Hyderabad: Telangana Rakshana Sena chief Kalvakuntla Kavitha demanded that a separate column for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) be included in the upcoming national census and urged the Telangana assembly to pass a resolution pressing the Centre on the issue.
Less than ₹2,000 crore out of India’s ₹50-lakh crore budget goes to OBCs, amounting to less than a pea per person. He pointed out severe representation gaps, noting that 36 percent local body reservations were rejected by the AP High Court, 42% reservation is being blocked in Telangana, and there is zero OBC representation among Supreme Court judges, PMO officials, or state board chairmanships. Because of reservations and urging communities to use their population strength to fight back, sunil Varma, President of the SC, ST, OBC, and Minority Sangh in Uttar Pradesh said that deliberately omitting a specific OBC column from the national census is a calculated plot to strip away reservations, emphasising that he attained his position as deputy commissioner only.
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 without OBC enumeration. She said lack of reliable data on OBC populations has resulted in inadequate budgetary allocations and reduced opportunities for backward communities. Suraj Mandal said that the central government is actively deceiving OBCs and stealing votes.
“The BJP govt at the Centre is attempting to dismantle reservations entirely, calling on SC, ST, and OBC communities to launch a joint struggle to protect affirmative action. She demanded that CM 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, while a massive storm of women and youth will march to Delhi to dethrone the central government. She also stressed the need for a drop-down mechanism to accurately record various OBC communities and sub-castes. The TRS leader called for a united struggle involving SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities to protect and expand reservation benefits. He warned that a political storm in the form of Kavitha is rising from Telangana to overthrow the power structure in Delhi.
Addressing the Hyderabad OBC declaration meeting jointly organized 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.