Govt to hold caste census, slams Opposition for using it as 'political tool'

Long under pressure from the Congress-led Opposition to conduct the caste census and with the Bihar Assembly elections just months away, the Centre on Wednesday approved the proposal to include caste enumeration in the next census exercise, even though it remained tight-lipped regarding when the much delayed decadal exercise will take place.

Whenever it is held, it will be the first caste census since 1931. The decadal census was last held in 2011.

The decision was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) which met earlier in the day. The sudden clearance to include caste census in the next round of census exercise came out of the blue, as it was being speculated that the CCPA could discuss the possibility of holding a special Parliament session to discuss the Pahalgam terror attack, as was being demanded by the Opposition.

The Congress said it supported the decision but sought a timeline on its implementation. “We support this completely but we want a timeline on when it will be done,” Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and MP Rahul Gandhi said, adding that Telangana and Bihar were models for the exercise.

Briefing mediapersons on the decisions of the Cabinet, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said: "CCPA decided that caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census. This demonstrates that our government is committed to the values and interests of our society and the country, like in the past, when our government had introduced 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections of society.”

He also hit out at the Congress and the INDIA bloc parties for using the caste census as a political tool.

“Congress governments have always opposed caste census. Caste was not included in all the census operations conducted since Independence. In 2010, then Prime Minister late 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 subject. Most of the political parties had recommended caste census. Despite this, the Congress government decided to conduct merely a survey of caste instead of a census. That survey is known as Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC),” Vaishnaw said.

Census, the minister said, was a Union subject and some states had conducted surveys to enumerate caste, while some others had conducted such surveys purely from a political angle, he claimed.

“Such surveys have created doubts in society. Considering all these facts, and to ensure that our social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be transparently included in the Census instead of surveys. This will strengthen the social and economic structure of our society, while the nation continues to progress,” he added.