The Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP), Andhra University, organised a one-day national webinar on ‘Caste Census among BC Communities in India: Strategies for Inclusive Development’ here on Monday.
Officer on Special Duty, AU, V. Krishna Mohan, who inaugurated the event, stated that BCs were lagging behind socially, economically and politically, and enumeration of caste-based census would help in designing appropriate policies for their development. He emphasised the need for undertaking such enumeration based on the population size and by region.
In his virtual address, V. Subrahmanyam, former Member, BC Commission, and Emeritus Professor, Department of Anthropology, Andhra University, said that caste was a unique feature of the Indian social system and each individual would be identified with a particular caste in which he/she was born. Director, Centre for Study of Discrimination and Exclusion, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Y.Chinna Rao, gave a historical account of castes as they existed in India during the early nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Prof. Chinna Rao said caste-based census among BCs was the need of the hour as it would bring out the social, economic and educational indicators in comparison with upper castes. CSSEIP Director P. Subba Rao underlined the need to identify the extent of social and economic backwardness among the BC communities and to undertake periodical surveys that help in formulating inclusive policies.
