The Congress on Wednesday welcomed the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs to approve a proposal to include caste enumeration in the next caste census as a “step in the right direction” which the Congress has been demanding right from the beginning.
“We welcome it but want to know the timeline by when it would be carried out,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, said asserting that the “caste-based census is a new paradigm of development”.
Claiming that “we have said in the Parliament that we will get the caste census done,” Mr Gandhi said: “What suddenly happened that after 11 years, a caste census was announced… It was our vision, we are happy they have adopted it.”
He, however, said he was in favour of scrapping the 50% barrier on reservation.
Offering to help the government in carrying out and designing the census, Mr Gandhi favoured a Telangana model as against the Bihar model which he said could be a blueprint.
The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, on Wednesday, approved a proposal to include caste enumeration in the next caste census.
In a press briefing after the Cabinet meeting, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said: “Under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs has decided today that caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming Census.”
Mr Gandhi also demanded that the government should announce a timeline and also get a budgetary allocation for carrying out the census.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also welcomed the move in a statement issued separately. He said, “The Indian National Congress has been consistently demanding a caste-based census, with Shri Rahul Gandhi being a vocal advocate for this cause. The Modi government has today announced to carry out a caste-based census along with the general census. This is a step in the right direction, which we’ve been advocating for since the beginning.”
“We’ve raised this issue multiple times in Parliament, and our leaders in the “INDIA alliance have also emphasized its importance. Despite this, Prime Minister Modi has repeatedly avoided implementing this policy, falsely accusing the opposition of trying to divide society” Mt Kharge claimed.
Raising questions about how and when the government will complete this task, Mr Kharge pointed out that the current budget allocation for the census is only ₹575 crore. “The Congress party demands that the Modi government promptly makes the necessary budgetary provisions and initiates the census and caste-based census process with complete transparency. A caste-based census is essential for ensuring inclusive progress and justice for all,” the Congress President said.