
Today I’d like to discuss why we need a caste census and what our Constitution says about it. Articles 38 and 39 of the Indian Constitution talk about the equal redistribution of resources for everyone, and for this, the first step is the caste census. We cannot properly frame or implement policies and welfare schemes without accurate data about our population. The first caste census was conducted in 1881 and the last in 1931 — both under the British government. The Indian government’s censuses only enumerate the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and the religions.
There has been little to no discussion or debate on the OBC population, which constitutes almost 61% of the country’s people (as the audience members correctly pointed out). How can this nation develop without a discourse on 61% of its population? Kanshiram once said, “OBCs’ problems are India’s problems.” How can we develop this country while ignoring such a huge chunk of the population? Whenever we talk about social justice, we need to talk about the OBCs.
The biggest problem in this country is caste, and the community that suffers the most from it is the OBCs. We speak more of Dalits and Adivasis, and no doubt we need to talk about them because the atrocities they face are deadly. There is more bloodshed involved. However, when it comes to the OBCs, they often lose out on opportunities without bloodshed or visible conflict, leading to a lack of clarity about their situation. Therefore, we need more meetings of this kind to create awareness among the OBC youth like us.
Scholar and writer Brajranjan Mani says, “Awareness is the key for revolution; only awareness can bring revolution.” OBCs have been facing many issues as they lack awareness. As Dalits have embraced Babasaheb Ambedkar, they have been able to put up a fight, whereas OBCs have largely ignored Babasaheb’s teachings. The problem with us OBCs is that we have become thoroughly brahmanized, practising caste discrimination against Dalits and Adivasis. We are living in a false consciousness (Karl Marx’s concept) that we are doing well enough and have secured everything in this Brahmanical system and in our lives. A certain middle-class section of the OBCs mostly studies B.Tech, MBBS and MBA and has little understanding of the society and its problems.
There are OBC employees working in the IT sector near this university who have no awareness of these issues. So, we need to rethink our strategies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a lot of news about migrant labourers, and data shows that the majority of them are from OBC backgrounds, but we haven’t spoken about this much. Even most Zomato and Swiggy delivery agents are OBCs. Balagopal has spoken and written extensively about Special Economic Zones (SEZ). The land acquired for SEZs is mostly from SC, ST, and OBC communities, particularly from Most Backward Classes (MBCs). They only have small pieces of land, often just one or two acres, and even those were taken away.
As a previous speaker mentioned, we have continuously been part of many movements, including the current RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) Hindutva project and the previous communist movement. We have been fighting in movements that are not our own, getting killed, and ultimately receiving no benefits from them. We were also part of the famous Telangana Armed Struggle movement where we fought and lost lives, yet we gained nothing while the Reddys regained their land. Chakali Ilamma and many others lost their lives in the movement.
Lastly, my request is that the OBC organisations in Telangana should not be controlled by just four or five castes. There are around 120 castes, and if only four or five of them control the discourse, the movement cannot progress. We do not have leaders from all the communities; we need to create leaders. Another request is that we need to print and distribute small books on the OBC issues in universities for free.
If we invest some money in this, we can create awareness. Then, this space would be filled with OBCs, unlike now where we don’t see many OBC students here. As a famous statistician says, “Data is the backbone for planning.” We cannot plan anything without data and cannot develop the country. If we really wish to develop this country, then we need a caste census. It shouldn’t be just an OBC census; we need to count upper castes as well. This includes Brahmins, Baniyas, and others. Three percent each of Brahmins and Baniyas have captured this country and are not allowing indigenous OBCs to develop. Every morning, many of us watch Brahmin astrologers, which is all based on superstition. First, we need to break free from this illusion and fight for our rights. I hope you all will lead us in that direction.
Thank You.
Jai Bhim
Jai Mandal
Sai Ganesh Akarapu is an OBC researcher and was an Urban Fellow at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements. He holds a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Hyderabad.