"Will Demolish Artificial Barrier Of 50% Reservations": Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi is in Telangana, which is becoming the second Congress-ruled state after Karnataka to undertake a caste census.

Hyderabad:

Caste discrimination in India is "unique" -- probably among worst in world -- and the Congress will demolish the "artificial barrier" of 50 per cent reservations, the party's senior leader Rahul Gandhi said today. Mr Gandhi is in Telangana, which is becoming the second Congress-ruled state after Karnataka to undertake a caste census. 

The caste survey will be taken up by the state government from November 6 and it will continue till the end of the month. 

Mr Gandhi, along with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, was attending a meeting organised by the state Congress, where he interacted with social groups, caste associations and state leaders and other stakeholders.

The Congress is resolved to conduct caste survey along with economic mapping to reveal who are the India's poor and what percentage of population they comprise. This, the party maintains, will help to do away with the 50 per cent cap on reservations. 

In a Hindi post on X earlier this year, Mr Gandhi had said the steps would "X-Ray" the country and provide correct reservations, rights and share to everyone, Mr. Gandhi said.

The previous panel of backwards castes was based on a 1993 law and had mandate only to gather data on education and employment quota. This time, the Telangana census will gather socioeconomic profile of all castes, sources had said.

48,000 teachers are expected to be deployed for the survey, for which primary schools will work only half-day this month.

They will go from house-to-house and conduct survey to collect data. This will encompass social, education, employment, economic, and political data. The government staff will place stickers on doors. There will be 85,000 enumerators.