Centre Steals Congress’ Caste Census Thunder; Rahul Gandhi to Respond Today

Centre Steals Congress’ Caste Census Thunder: While Rahul Gandhi promises the caste census in the country plus enhanced reservation limits if Congress comes to power, the Union government made its move by announcing that caste enumeration will take place in the forthcoming census exercise in a "transparent" fashion.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said a detailed announcement on the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs was made. He added that although the census pertains to the Centre, some state governments have conducted cast enumeration in the guise of surveys.

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Rahul Gandhi, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, will address a press conference at 7 pm on Wednesday in what could be judged simply as their reaction to the Centre's caste census move.

Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the states which have opposition governments undertook caste surveys for a political motive, while under the Narendra Modi government, it is inevitable that caste enumeration be transparently included in the forthcoming pan-Indian census exercise.

The census process was to begin in April 2020, but it got delayed as a result of the Covid pandemic.

Vaishnaw accused the Congress governments of always opposing the caste census.

“Caste was not included in all the census operations conducted since independence. In 2010, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singhji had assured the Lok Sabha that the matter of caste census should be considered in the cabinet. A group of ministers was formed to consider this subject. Most political parties recommended a caste census. Despite this, the Congress government decided to conduct only a caste survey instead of a census. That survey is known as SECC,” Vaishnaw said.

"It is well understood that the Congress and its INDI alliance partners have only used the caste census as a political tool. As per Article 246 of the Constitution of India, the subject census is listed at 69 in the Union list in the 7th schedule. According to the Constitution of India, the census is a Union subject. Some states have conducted surveys to enumerate caste. Some states have done this well, while some others have conducted such surveys purely from a political angle in a non-transparent way. Considering all these facts and to ensure that a social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be transparently included in the census instead of surveys," he added.

This will indeed strengthen the social and economic composition of society, while continuing to rise as the nation develops.

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The minister added that the Modi government had earlier introduced economically weaker sections under a reservation of 10 percent without putting any pressure onto any section of the society.

The Congress and the opposition INDIA coalition made the caste census an important part of its last election campaign with Rahul Gandhi promising representation to people on the basis of their population.

Centre's caste census move before Bihar election

This decision comes just months ahead of the Bihar assembly election. Backwards and marginalised communities, together, constitute close to 85 per cent of the population of Bihar, a number bigger than the government presumes.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had the Bihar government do a caste survey in October 2023, being the first state to do so. Coincidentally, the caste survey and the announcement of its results were done when Congress was in the state government.

After Bihar, Karnataka and Telangana, both ruled by the Congress, have been carrying out caste censuses.

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