Former Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) member KS Chalam addressing a symposium on ‘Caste Census – Implications – Impact on Caste System’ organized by Comrade Y. Vijaykumar Marxist Study Center at Visakhapatnam Public Library on January 26, 2026. | Photo credit: V. Raju
Former Union Public Service Union (UPSC) member KS Chalam advocated for caste enumeration in the census.
Mr. Chalam was speaking at a symposium on ‘Caste Census – Implications – Impact on Caste System’ organized by Comrade Y. Vijaykumar Center for Marxist Studies at the Public Library in the city on Monday (January 26, 2026). Speaking on ‘Indian Society – Caste Census’, Mr. Chalam said that no section of society would lose out from the exercise. Though SC and ST population is enumerated, there is no exact figure of BC population, he added.
Mr. Chalam said the caste census will help the government formulate policies in a scientific manner. “It should be adopted for the development and empowerment of BC,” he said, advocating social and cultural agitations in support of the caste census.
Osmania University Political Science Department Professor K. Srinivasulu said that census is not just about counting people but it is a study to find out the social and economic conditions of people. He argued that the caste system was not wiped out by modernization. Those who benefit from the existing system are against the census of castes, he added.
Published – 27 Jan 2026 0:00 IST
