Notes of Nagesh

By Nagesh Bhushan April 24, 2026 For decades, a comforting refrain has echoed through India's policy corridors and political rallies: "There is no caste, only poverty." The argument, seductive in its simplicity, suggests that once income is equalized, the ancient hierarchies of birth dissolve. If a Dalit farmer and a Brahmin landlord both earn ₹50,000 a year, the logic goes, they stand on equal footing. The state, therefore, should target the poor, not the caste. But a new, sprawling dataset from the southern state of Telangana threatens to shatter this comforting illusion. The  Socio, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) Survey 2024 , released by the state's Independent Expert Working Group, does not merely count heads; it dissects the anatomy of inequality with a granularity never before attempted in India. Covering 35 million people across 242 distinct caste groups, the report delivers a stark verdict:  Poverty is not casteless. In f...

 T.Chiranjeevulu IAS (Ret), President and Founder BCIF(BC Intellectuals Forum) On the occasion of Doddi Komaraiah's birth anniversary, the Telangana armed peasant struggle began on this very day. On April 3rd, 1946, he was martyred, and from that moment forward, the Telangana armed peasant struggle commenced and continued until 1951. This struggle was waged against feudalism and the tyranny of the Nizam in Telangana, during which 4,000 people lost their lives. Thousands of villages were liberated from feudal lords — primarily zamindars, deshmuks, deshpandes, and patwardis. Approximately ten lakh acres of land were redistributed through this movement. When we compare the social and economic conditions of Telangana then with those of today, we find that the exploitation which existed then continues in much the same form today. While the nature of exploitation has evolved and people now speak with somewhat greater freedom, the Backward Classes (BCs) remain completely marginalized ...

MOHAN GURUSWAMY: Telangana: The Consequence of a Trial Marriage that  Failed. The integration of the Telangana region of the erstwhile Hyderabad state and Andhra region of the old Madras state in 1956 was intended to be a trial marriage. The Andhra’s of Madras were the ones who wanted a Telugu state. It was originally a rallying call of the communists that was deftly appropriated by ambitious Congressmen in Madras wanting a more active share of the pomp and prize of high offices, not possible in the composite Madras state.  The people of Telangana always had doubts about this union, and the vivisection of Hyderabad state. It took all the charm and authority of Jawaharlal Nehru to persuade Telangana Congress leaders to accept a trial. Jawaharlal cajoled them to give it a try for five years. If it doesn’t work for you, come back to me and we will do something about it was the implicit assurance. They don’t make leaders bigger and taller than Jawaharlal and when he gave an assura...