Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, putting forward his party’s demand for an “up-to-date caste census.”

In his letter, the second in a row, Mr Kharge offered three suggestions regarding the caste census and urged the Prime Minister to explore his proposals with all political parties.

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“I have written a letter to you on 16 April 2023 and placed before you the demand of the Indian National Congress to conduct a caste census. Regretfully, I did not receive any reply to that letter,” Mr Kharge lamented in his letter that he also shared on his social media handle X on Tuesday.

“You have now announced, without providing any details, that the next Census (that was actually due in 2021) will include caste as a separate category as well,” Kharge said while putting forward his three suggestions for consideration of the government that includes that the Union Home Ministry must draw upon the Telangana model—both the methodology adopted for finalising the questionnaire, as well as the final set of questions asked.

Mr Kharge’s suggestions also included scrapping of the “arbitrarily imposed” 50 per cent ceiling on reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and OBCs by a Constitutional amendment.

His third suggestion is for the implementation of Article 15 (5), which provides for reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and OBCs in private educational institutions as well. This should be implemented.

“Article 15(5) was introduced in the Constitution of India with effect from 20th January 2006. This was subsequently challenged in the Supreme Court. Finally, it was upheld by the Supreme Court after prolonged deliberations on 29th January 2014, very shortly before the model code of conduct for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections went into effect. It provides for reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and OBCs in private educational institutions as well. This should be implemented,” he stressed.

Asserting that conducting any exercise such as the caste census which gives the backward, the oppressed and the marginalised sections of our society, their rights cannot and should not be considered divisive in any way, Mr Kharge said “Our great nation and our large-hearted people have always come together as one whenever needed, just as we have done after the recent cowardly terrorist attacks in Pahalgam.