Hyderabad: Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing that the Caste Census would be taken up in the next population census, Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday, May 1 suggested that the Centre should constitute a Union cabinet committee for it.
Revanth Reddy called for setting up a group of ministers in the Union cabinet to study each state. There are different reservations in each state, said the Telangana CM. “Then issue terms of reference,” he stated, and sought a timeline for the commencement and conclusion of the caste census.
“I urge the Centre to study the Caste Census conducted in Telangana and implement the practices on the national level. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing that the caste census would be conducted along with the population census. The Telangana government is ready to help the Centre with regards to the caste census,” the chief minister said.
Addressing the media at his residence in Hyderabad, the Telangana CM said said, “Rahul Gandhi promised during Bharat Jodo Yatra that wherever Congress govt forms, we will do Caste Census and Telangana did it.” He thanked the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha on behalf of Telangana.
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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