Rahul welcomes govt's 'sudden' caste census decision, wants timeline for its implementation         

Terming caste enumeration as Congress’s “vision”, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday welcomed the government’s decision to conduct a caste census, while demanding a clear timeline for its completion.

He called the decision the “first step” towards deeper social reform.

“We welcome the decision, but we need to know how much time it will take to conclude the census,” the Congress leader told reporters.

He also gave credit to the public and political pressure for pushing the government to act, saying, “We have shown we can press the government.”

Referring to the Congress’s longstanding demand of implementation of the caste census in the country, the Rae Bareli MP said: “We had said in Parliament that we would make caste census happen. We had also said that we would scrap the 50 per cent reservation cap. Suddenly after 11 years, the caste census has been announced.”

Terming Telangana a model for undertaking such an exercise, Rahul said it could serve as a blueprint. “We completely support it, but we want a timeline. This is the first step. There are two examples—Bihar’s and Telangana’s—and there is a vast difference between the two.”

Rahul said, “Caste census is the first step. Our vision is to bring a new development paradigm through caste census.”