Hyderabad: Union minister of state for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Sunday, May 4 slammed the Telangana government for caste census and inclusion of Muslims in the survey.
“Role model or whatever, we don’t know, the Congress government in Telangana has made it a habit to conduct useless exercises,” Kumar said. He said that the Congress government has forgotten about its 6 guarantees and there is no discussion regarding those guarantees.
He reiterated that the Bharatiya Janata Party is completely opposed to the inclusion of Muslims in backward classes.”Why did the government reduce reservation for BCs from 50 percent to 42 percent?” he asked adding that from this 42 percent if 10 percent reservation is given to Muslims only 32 percent remains for people from various backward classes.
He said that the Congress is using the survey for its own benefit just like KCR established his property after conducting the family survey during the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) tenure.
Kumar denied any relation between the caste census announced by the Centre and the one conducted at state level by the Telangana government. “The difference will be clear once the national caste census commences,” he said while addressing the media in Karimnagar.
He further asked as to why there is no discussion regarding six guaratees which the Congress promised during Telangana Assembly elections in 2023. “What ever happens at the national level, the Congress claims credit of initiating it first. The Telangana government is a role model for telling lies, false campaigns and for taking directions from Delhi,” he added.
Kumar slammed the Telangana government for allegedly cracking down on people for voicing their opinions. The Union minister said that the Congress is desperate for credit of caste census after the exercise failed in the state.
He said that there is no correlation between the numbers reflected in the caste census by the Telangana government and the state’s population.
Centre to include caste data in next census
Ahead of the population census, the Centre on Wednesday announced that caste data will be included in the exercise. Union minister of electronics and information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the committee on political affairs’ decision.
Vaishnaw said that the it comes under the purview of the Centre, but some states have done caste enumeration in the name of surveys. Alleging that the states ruled by Opposition parties have done caste surveys for political reasons, the minister said it is Modi government’s resolve to transparently include caste enumeration in the forthcoming pan-India census exercise.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have been demanding a nationwide Caste Census, making it a major election issue, and some states like Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka have conducted such surveys. The exercise was to commence in April 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Considering all these facts and to ensure that the social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be transparently included in the Census instead of surveys,” Vaishnaw said, adding that this will strengthen the social and economic structure of our society while the nation continues to progress.
Vaishnaw said in 2010, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh 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 after most of the political parties had recommended a caste census.
“Despite this, the Congress government decided to conduct only a survey instead of a caste census. That survey is known as SECC. It is well understood that the Congress and its INDI alliance partners have used it only as a political tool,” the minister alleged. He said that under Article 246 of the Constitution, the subject ‘census’ is listed in the Union list under entry 69 and according to the Constitution, the Census is a Union subject.
Better late than never: Congress
Welcoming the Union government’s decision, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi felt it should give a timeline for its implementation.
Addressing a press conference, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, “We support this (government’s decision) completely but we want a timeline. We want to know by when it will be done.”
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