TRS chief Kalvakuntla Kavitha speaks at the OBC declaration meeting in Hyderabad on Wednesday
Less than ₹2,000 crore out of India’s ₹50-lakh crore budget goes to OBCs.
She said that an accurate enumeration of OBC communities is essential to ensure fair representation in education, employment, and political institutions. Without a standardised drop-down box in the census, sub-castes across states will be fragmented, undercounted or ‘unclassifiable’, thereby robbing them of fair opportunities,” Kavitha said. The Telangana govt should follow the example of Tamil Nadu and adopt an assembly resolution seeking the inclusion of a dedicated OBC column in the Census, Kavitha said and added that if the Centre failed to agree, the state should explore measures to oppose the conduct of the Census. She said lack of reliable data on OBC populations has resulted in inadequate budgetary allocations and reduced opportunities for backward communities.
“The BJP govt at the Centre is attempting to dismantle reservations entirely. She demanded that chief minister A Revanth Reddy pass an assembly resolution for the OBC census column, warning that failure to do so will result in TRS physically blocking census operations in Telangana. The TRS leader called for a united struggle involving SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities to protect and expand reservation benefits. The meeting was attended by OBC leaders and activists from different states, including Delhi University professorSuraj Mandal, OBC Mahasabha leader from Madhya Pradesh Dharemendra Kushwaha and Sunil Varma, president of the SC, ST, OBC, and Minority Sangh in Uttar Pradesh.
Addressing the Hyderabad OBC declaration meeting jointly organised by the All India OBC Students Association and Telangana BC Rights Forum on Wednesday, Kavitha described reservations as “the most valuable asset that can be passed on to future generations.