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Time of India
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Telangana set to finalise first composite Backwardness index; report to cover 242 caste groups
File photo HYDERABAD: The first ever Composite Backwardness Index (CBI) report is set to be completed in the coming days, with the indepent expert group appointed by the state govt finalising the analysis of the data sourced from the Socio-Economic, Educational, Employment, Political, and Caste Survey (SEEPC). During a press conference on Wednesday, committee convener Praveen Chakravarty announced that the final meeting to review the report, which spans 300 pages, has concluded. The team is now preparing to submit their findings to chief minister A Revanth Reddy. Chakravarty elaborated on the innovative scoring system that assigns backwardness scores to 242 caste groups, a task informed by a massive survey that engaged 3.55 crore individuals across 74 diverse fields of information. 'The fundamental concept behind this initiative is a ranking method that quantifies backwardness. To calculate the Composite Backwardness Index scores, the researchers utilised an extensive array of 42 parameters, which encompass crucial aspects such as education levels, gender equality, occupational status, living conditions, income brackets, asset ownership, land rights, experiences of discrimination, and access to financial and capital resources' he said. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad Chakravarty expressed confidence that the final adjustments would be completed within the next 10 days.
New Indian Express
30-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Revision of Bihar electoral rolls: Congress says will oppose exercise legally, politically
NEW DELHI: As the EC began its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls, the Congress on Sunday said it will oppose the move legally, politically, and on all fronts. The move invited scathing criticism from the Opposition parties as the EC on Saturday said around 2.93 crore of 7.89 crore voters, or about 37% of the electorate, will have to submit proof of their eligibility. Speaking with this newspaper, Congress leader Praveen Chakravartyquestioned the methodology adopted by the EC to ascertain that 37% of the Bihar electorate will have to re-register. 'How did they get the figure of 37%? This means they have the electoral roll of 2003 in a machine-readable format. Otherwise, it's impossible to analyse and come up with the figure. The Congress has been demanding the Maharashtra electoral rolls for a long time. If they have the 2003 rolls, why are they not showing us the 2024 Maharashtra voter rolls?' said Chakravarty, a member of EAGLE, an eight-member Congress panel tasked with looking into polls. He also pointed out that the EC had mooted a proposal on March 8 for electoral roll cleaning using Aadhaar, which, while not perfect, is a more viable alternative solution than an intensive voter revision in Bihar. 'Why did the EC abandon that to suddenly announce an SIR three months after the Aadhaar proposal?' he asked. The EC's move on June 24, requiring all existing voters who were not on the 2003 rolls to provide proof of their and their parents' citizenship, has also sparked concerns of disenfranchisement and exclusion of the poor and marginalised from voter rolls. 'If I was a voter in 2024 or 2019, that doesn't mean I am a voter now. I have to re-register. Now, they are saying I have to prove my veracity as a voter and prove date and place of birth. Why am I guilty until proven innocent?' he said. Chakravarty also said the EC has come up with arduous rules for providing birth certificates of voters and their parents, depending on the year of birth. Besides Union and state government officials will now dictate who has correct documents and who doesn't, thus dictating who gets to vote in the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.
New Indian Express
30-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Will oppose exercise legally, politically: Congress questions EC move
NEW DELHI: As the EC began its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls, the Congress on Sunday said it will oppose the move legally, politically, and on all fronts. The move invited scathing criticism from the Opposition parties as the EC on Saturday said around 2.93 crore of 7.89 crore voters, or about 37% of the electorate, will have to submit proof of their eligibility. Speaking with this newspaper, Congress leader Praveen Chakravartyquestioned the methodology adopted by the EC to ascertain that 37% of the Bihar electorate will have to re-register. 'How did they get the figure of 37%? This means they have the electoral roll of 2003 in a machine-readable format. Otherwise, it's impossible to analyse and come up with the figure. The Congress has been demanding the Maharashtra electoral rolls for a long time. If they have the 2003 rolls, why are they not showing us the 2024 Maharashtra voter rolls?' said Chakravarty, a member of EAGLE, an eight-member Congress panel tasked with looking into polls. He also pointed out that the EC had mooted a proposal on March 8 for electoral roll cleaning using Aadhaar, which, while not perfect, is a more viable alternative solution than an intensive voter revision in Bihar. 'Why did the EC abandon that to suddenly announce an SIR three months after the Aadhaar proposal?' he asked. The EC's move on June 24, requiring all existing voters who were not on the 2003 rolls to provide proof of their and their parents' citizenship, has also sparked concerns of disenfranchisement and exclusion of the poor and marginalised from voter rolls. 'If I was a voter in 2024 or 2019, that doesn't mean I am a voter now. I have to re-register. Now, they are saying I have to prove my veracity as a voter and prove date and place of birth. Why am I guilty until proven innocent?' he said. Chakravarty also said the EC has come up with arduous rules for providing birth certificates of voters and their parents, depending on the year of birth. Besides Union and state government officials will now dictate who has correct documents and who doesn't, thus dictating who gets to vote in the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.
Indian Express
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Telangana govt's expert group to formulate first-of-its-kind ‘Composite Backwardness Index'
The Telangana government's expert working group has decided to formulate a first-of-its-kind 'Composite Backwardness Index' using the caste census data to measure disparities across the 243 sub-castes enumerated in the survey. The expert working group, constituted by the Telangana government on March 7 this year under the chairmanship of Justice Sudarshan Reddy (Retd.), met here to discuss and analyse data collected under the caste survey conducted in the state. The survey was formulated to study, analyse and interpret data collected under the Social Education Employment Economic Political Caste (SEEEPC) Survey of 2024. Drawing inspiration from the principles enshrined in the Constitution, the expert working group will formulate a 'Composite Backwardness Index' for each of the sub-castes of Telangana. Praveen Chakravarty, the convenor of the expert working group, said the 'Composite Backwardness Index' will be a numerical and objective measure of the relative backwardness of each sub-caste computed through a quartile based statistical analysis using all parameters of the SEEEPC data. He said the expert group will use up to 43 parameters split between rural and urban areas under seven categories namely social, education, living standards, occupation, income, movable and immovable assets and access to banking and finance to compute a holistic measure of backwardness. It may be recalled that the Mandal Commission report used 11 parameters to compute relative backwardness of sub-castes. Chakravarty said the expert group has finished statistical and data work and had a detailed discussion of the findings of the Composite Backwardness Index (CBI) in its meeting today. 'There was a consensus agreement on the CBI method, the parameters used for analysis, the graphical representation and the larger findings. The expert group will move to the next phase of drafting of the report and expects to submit the report to the government of Telangana in a month's time or before,' he added. The report will present as ordinal ranking of relative backwardness of each sub-caste based on the CBI score as well as ranking of each sub-caste on each of the seven categories and parameters used for evaluation, said Chakravarty. The expert group's next meeting will be held soon for discussion and approval of the final report. The expert group has also recommended that the Telangana government provide a natural language interface using Artificial Intelligence to the SEEEPC dataset in aggregate form without revealing any household specific information and make it available for further analysis for the larger research fraternity. The expert group consists of nine full-time members and other special invitees with expertise in sociology, caste studies, history, policy, law, economics, statistics and other domains who are working in an honorary capacity to prepare a report of their findings of the SEEEPC survey. The expert group's earlier three meetings were held in Hyderabad. The Telangana 2024 SEEEPC exercise is a robust survey of 3.55 crore people with 75 fields of information about each person covering social, economic, educational, identity, occupational and living aspects of their daily lives. It enumerates people across 243 sub-castes and an option of 'No Caste' for those who do not wish to divulge and 'Others' for those who do not fall into any of the sub-castes listed in the enumeration manual. The survey methodology is rigorous and scientific, making this one of the largest such exercises involving caste identities in the history of independent India. This dataset provides very rich and granular information of disparities across various social groups and its potential causes. Of the 243 sub-castes, 73 sub-castes constitute 96 per cent of the entire population of Telangana, the survey said. These include ten sub-castes of Scheduled Castes, seven sub-castes of Scheduled Tribes, 45 sub-castes of Backward Classes and eleven sub-castes of Other Castes.
Indian Express
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
In Pune on May 9, man with a green funnybone and a wake-up call
'Ever wondered why Valentine's Day and World Pangolin Day are celebrated back to back?' asks one pangolin to another. 'No, but we're endangered and I love where this is going,' replies the second pangolin as a full moon glows on them. Elsewhere, there is Donald Trump in a MAGA cap. 'Today, this great nation stands at par with Iran, Libya and Yemen…,' says the US President. Ripping open the jacket of his suit to reveal a heart inscribed with 'Drill Baby Drill', he adds, 'in being the only countries outside the Paris climate agreement.' The cartoons, with a playful mix of tongue-in-cheek wit and edgy artwork, are by Nagpur-based Rohan Chakravarty. Chakravarty might not be a familiar name, but that is because his fans know him as Green Humour. Green Humour is considered the world's largest online collection of cartoons, comics and illustrations on wildlife and the environment. In December 2013, it was picked up by the international comics platform Gocomics and became the first series of cartoons and comic strips from India to be distributed globally. Green Humour has received awards from the United Nations Development Programme, WWF International and the Royal Bank of Scotland, among others. Chakravarty has been invited to make live art at COPs 26 to 29, the United Nations climate change conferences. On May 9, the cartoonist and illustrator will make a rare trip to Pune, at Pagdandi Bookstore, to discuss Bird Business, his new book that delves into the surprising lives of birds. More than 100 birds have been covered in the book as the author highlights the many peculiarities among birds that laymen and even bird watchers often overlook. The Nicobar megapode, for instance, is only found in the Great Nicobar, and it is from the only family of birds known to compost. There are greater racket-tailed drongo, which is an accomplished mimic and can reproduce metallic jingling sounds, and birds that dance, mimic and flirt. 'I've been bird watching for around 20 years, and everything I've learnt on this journey has gone into creating the book. When I started Green Humour, it was a sort of distraction for me from the rut of animation because I used to do a lot of corporate projects as an animator. I needed something to challenge myself more creatively. Over time, as I started to secure columns and spaces for Green Humour in the media, I began to realise that it comes with responsibility,' says Chakravarty, who is trained as a dentist. 'Initially, it would only be the science and the conservation community that would engage with my work. Later, people from all walks of life started to engage with it. That was when even my narrative started to get longer and more complex, and include a lot of not just wildlife conservation but also the politics around it. I tried to show that this is not just an environmental matter but also a social and a political one,' says Chakravarty. Bird Business has resulted from Chakravarty's conviction that field guides that are available on birds and bird watching only tell you how to identify some birds and never go beyond that. 'This book tries to bridge the communication gap in a visual and entertaining manner,' he says. Chakravarty himself goes out every morning, usually in the company of his two dogs, to observe birds. As he speaks about his fascination for the Greater Painted Snipe, a bird in which the gender roles are starkly reversed, so that it is the female that indulges in courtship displays, courts one mate after another and leaves her eggs to the care of mates. Chakravarty is afraid that a climate disaster is looming closer, and many species are on borrowed time. 'I am not a very optimistic person in this matter. Though I try to project as much optimism as I can through my art and my cartoons because I think I owe it to my readers, especially younger ones, I don't have much hope left anymore. Ever since I started out, it has just gotten consistently worse year after year,' he says. Chakravarty is a pioneer in making art exclusively on the environment and climate change, but several artists across forms are now making their voices heard on the issue. He, however, is worried as the days get hotter every year. As an artist, though, he is fighting on. 'I am at a stage where I research hard and put everything I can into a comic or a piece. I put it out there and let viewers decide how to interpret it and apply it to their lives,' he says. Dipanita Nath is interested in the climate crisis and sustainability. She has written extensively on social trends, heritage, theatre and startups. She has worked with major news organizations such as Hindustan Times, The Times of India and Mint. ... Read More
