Hyderabad: Telangana Commission for Backward Classes chairperson G Niranjan on Saturday wrote a letter to union home minister Amit Shah urging him to ensure that the enumeration of backward classes, other backward classes (OBCs), and social and economically backward classes (SEBCs) is taken up along with the Census-2027.The gazette notification on Aug 14, 2026 by the Ministry of Home Affairs along with the Census questionnaire is of particular importance in the process. Question no. 10 refers to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST)/ castes. “While this indicates that caste information Is proposed to be collected, there is. no clear indication regarding the manner in which OBC/BC communities will be identified, classified and enumerated,” Niranjan stated in his letter.The state BC commission chairperson said reliable caste-wise data is essential for social justice, reservation, welfare, education, employment and evidence-based policy making for OBC and SEBC communities.“We also request clarification on whether the central OBC list and respective state OBC and BC lists will be appropriately mapped in the census system and whether synonyms, sub-castes and regional names will be standardised under appropriate caste and community codes,” Niranjan stated and sought clarity from the ministry.
