Kharge hails Telangana model of caste enumeration

In a letter to PM Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday made three suggestions on the recently announced caste enumeration -- a questionnaire based on the Telangana model, a constitutional amendment to remove the “forcibly imposed” 50% reservation cap regardless of the caste survey results, and immediate implementation of Article 15(5) for reservations to SCs, STs and OBCs in private institutes.

A caste survey was conducted by the Congress-ruled Telangana, and its results were announced in February. Since the government’s announcement of caste census, the grand old party has been demanding that “Telangana model” be adopted for the pan-India exercise.

Meanwhile, Kharge also called on the PM to have a dialogue with all political parties soon on the issue of caste census.

The Congress chief further said that the caste census should not be considered “divisive” as it “serves as a means to give rights to the backward, deprived and marginalised”.

“Our great nation and our big-hearted people have always stood united in adverse circumstances. Recently, we all showed solidarity after the cowardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam,” he said in his letter.

Caste census should be conducted in the “comprehensive manner” suggested by the Congress as this would ensure “social and economic justice and equality of status and opportunity”, Kharge wrote in his letter.