Last Updated:
Vaishnaw said that caste census exercise carried out in several states are “unscientific”.
Several states including NDA-ruled Bihar have already published the data on caste census. (Photo file)
The Centre on Wednesday announced that caste data will be included in the forthcoming Census. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Central Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier today.
“Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided today that caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming Census,” said Union Minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw at the Cabinet briefing today.
The census exercise was scheduled to commence in April 2020 but got delayed due to the Covid pandemic.
Vaishnaw said that caste census exercises carried out in several states were “unscientific”. He accused Congress and its INDI alliance partners have used the caste census only as a “political tool”.
“Some states have conducted surveys to enumerate castes. While some states have done this well, some others conducted such surveys only from a political angle in a non-transparent way. Such surveys created doubts in society. To ensure that our social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be included in the census instead of surveys,” he said.
“Congress governments have always opposed the caste census. In 2010, the late Dr Manmohan Singh said that the matter of caste census should be considered in the Cabinet. A group of ministers was formed to consider this subject. Most of the political parties have recommended a caste census. Despite this, the Congress government decided to conduct a survey of caste or a caste census,” the minister added.
Caste census was one of key planks of the INDI bloc going into the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In 2022, Bihar, then under a INDI alliance government, became the first state in independent India to successfully enumerate all castes.
Following Bihar’s suit, Congress-ruled Karnataka and Telangana have also undertaken the caste census. Earlier this year, the Jagan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh initiated a project to develop a comprehensive database of people categorised by their castes.
Opposition Links Caste Census Announcement With Bihar Elections
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that Rahul Gandhi has been demanding the caste census for a long time.
“Timing is very interesting. Hope there is some sincerity with the decision. Rahul Gandhi has been demanding it for a long time. I cannot forget the famous words of Rahul Gandhi– caste census will happen. I will say the government is with Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant linked the Centre’s announcement with the Bihar elections, scheduled to held later this year.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) spokesperson Shakti Yadav sand that this is a gift of Tejashwi Yadav for which he has been campaigning in bihar for a long time.