Andhra Pradesh will become the second state in the country, after Bihar, to hold a caste census. The elaboarte exercise will begin on Friday. The move will coincide with the unveiling of the "Statue of Social Justice"-a 125-foot-tall statue of Dr B R Ambedkar-in Vijayawada city, believed to be the tallest statue of the dalit icon in the world.
The entire exercise will be done through village and ward secretariat staff mapping 1.7 crore households. The state government wants to complete the census exercise by Jan 28. The census is also being conducted at a time when general elections are just round the corner. Andhra Pradesh will see both assembly and Lok Sabha elections being held simultaneously.
Sources said the state government wants to know the exact proportion of SCs, STs and backward classes through census. The state has developed a mobile application to capture caste details of individuals instantaneously when village and ward secretariat staff visit households. Around 726 castes and communities gave been listed in the application. Government has also decided to go for a second round which will be held for five days, from Jan 29 to Feb 2 for those who left uncovered in the first phase
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