Synopsis
On March 15, the BJP criticized the Telangana government for including French economist Thomas Piketty in a panel analyzing caste survey data. They questioned the decision, citing concerns over national interests and the availability of Indian experts.Key Takeaways
- BJP raises concerns over foreign involvement in sensitive data.
- Thomas Piketty's appointment questioned due to his economic model.
- Indian experts available; why choose a foreign economist?
- The caste survey covered 3.54 crore people.
- Opposition questions accuracy of caste data.
Hyderabad, March 15 (NationPress) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticized the Congress government in Telangana on Saturday for including French economist Thomas Piketty in an expert committee tasked with analyzing the data from the recent caste survey.
Rajya Sabha MP and BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi questioned the rationale of entrusting India’s sensitive social data to a foreign national.
He expressed that the decision to hire a foreign economic expert to interpret the caste-based survey is troubling.
"I also want to inquire why the Congress Party is handing over India's sensitive social data to a foreigner. Furthermore, why was Thomas Piketty selected, whose model for analyzing economic inequality has sparked extensive debate? His method reportedly favors imposing higher taxes on the wealthy while exempting certain privileged groups," he stated.
Sudhanshu Trivedi challenged the Congress Party, asking if they doubt the expertise of Indian economists. “Are there no capable economic experts in Telangana that they needed to choose a foreigner like Thomas Piketty? India boasts a plethora of economic experts, many of whom occupy top global roles," he remarked.
"I also wish to question the Congress Party's frequent alignment with foreign entities instead of national interests. Initially, they supported foreign media against India's media. Then, they sided with foreign agencies to undermine India's economy. During elections, they seemed to align indirectly with dubious foreign forces. Before every parliamentary session, they were seen with foreign influencers,” added the BJP MP.
BJP national spokesperson G.V.L Narasimha Rao alleged that the Telangana government's decision, along with that of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, has ulterior motives. “An expert committee consisting of 11 members has been formed to review the caste census conducted by the state, which includes French economist Thomas Piketty to analyze and provide insights into the survey,” he noted.
The state government established an 11-member independent expert working group led by former Supreme Court Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy on March 12 to interpret the data collected during the Socio, Economic, Education, Employment, Political and Caste Survey 2024 (SEEEPC survey), commonly referred to as the caste survey.
The committee members include Prof Kancha Ilaiah, Prof Shantha Sinha, Prof Himanshu, Dr Sukhadeo Thorat, Nikhil Dey, Prof. Bhangya Bhukya, Prof. Purushotham Reddy, Prof. Jean Dreze, Thomas Piketty, and Praveen Chakravarty.
An Advisory Committee formed by the Planning Department in February decided to create an independent expert working group to analyze the data from the SEEEPC Survey 2024, aimed at developing evidence-based policies for various social sectors within the state.
According to the Government Order, the expert working group will interpret the survey data and submit a report to the government within a month.
The survey, conducted in November-December 2024, aimed to evaluate the economic, social, educational, political, and caste status of all households across the state.
It covered a total of 3,54,75,554 individuals over a span of 50 days. In total, 1.12 crore families were included, comprising 66,99,602 families in rural areas and 45,15,532 families in urban regions.
On February 4, the government presented the survey findings in the Assembly, reporting that 96.9 percent of households in the state participated. Approximately 16 lakh individuals (3.1 percent) opted out for various reasons.
In response to concerns raised by opposition parties regarding the data's accuracy, the government decided to conduct an additional round of surveys last month to include individuals who could not participate previously.
Those who missed the survey were invited to provide their details to the enumerators.
The opposition has raised concerns about the decrease in the population of Backward Classes from 61 percent (including Muslim Backward Classes) as revealed in the integrated household survey of 2014 to 56.33 percent in the caste survey conducted in November-December 2024.
The caste survey report indicated that Backward Classes make up 56.33 percent of the state’s population, including 10.08 percent who are Backward Class Muslims.
According to the survey findings, 17.43 percent of the population are Scheduled Castes (SCs), 10.45 percent are Scheduled Tribes (STs), and 12.56 percent are Muslims, including 2.48 percent who are Other Caste (OC) Muslims. The OCs represent 13.31 percent of the total population.
