Hyderabad: All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said untouchability against Scheduled Castes remains entrenched in Indian society and called for urgent efforts to dismantle the practice. He contrasted this with Backward Classes, noting they remain socially disadvantaged but do not face untouchability.
Speaking at a presentation at the AICC headquarters in Delhi and later at a committee meeting with party leaders and experts at his residence, Kharge said this disparity must be addressed. He also posted on the social media platform X, stating that political and social unity among SCs, BCs, and minorities could garner up to 70 per cent support for the Congress.
Kharge credited Rahul Gandhi’s campaign for the caste census with forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to endorse the idea. He termed the caste census carried out in Telangana a major success and said the Congress’s “Social Justice 2.0” initiative had begun in the state. He said the survey was 99 per cent complete and called for any errors to be corrected without delaying progress.
He noted that after the Modi government extended 10 per cent reservations under the EWS category, the overall quota ceiling rose to 60 per cent. In Telangana, this includes upper castes through EWS and general categories, while BCs receive 42 per cent, SCs 17 per cent, and STs 10 per cent.
Kharge rejected concerns over reservation limits, stating the expansion did not harm any group. He said Rahul Gandhi’s campaign had given a voice to SC, ST, OBC, and EWS communities long ignored by the system. He cited parliamentary data showing 80 per cent of OBC and 83 per cent of ST professor posts remain vacant in central universities, calling it evidence of institutional exclusion across corporate boards, the judiciary, bureaucracy, and other key sectors.
