Hours after the Union cabinet gave the seal on the caste census, leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi demanded the Narendra Modi government to announce a deadline for the census.
“I don’t think the Bihar election had played any role behind the decision,” Rahul said in a news conference on Wednesday evening. “It does not matter why they took the decision. We have been fighting for very long (on the caste census). We are happy. We welcome it. We want to ask the government by when the process will be completed. We want dates.”
This afternoon after a cabinet meeting, Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had announced the decision.
"Caste enumeration should be transparently included in the Census instead of surveys (with politics not disturbing the social fabric," Vaishnaw said, adding that this will strengthen the social and economic structure of our society.
Rahul said: “The caste census will be a new paradigm of development. What is the participation of the 90 per cent of the population in the power structure in the country? This is the first step in a completely new paradigm of development in the country.”
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had been advocating for a caste census in the country. The last census survey was conducted in 2011 and the new census has been due for the last four years.
The Congress-led Telangana government is among the three states, which have conducted a caste survey to determine caste-based demographics.
The other two states are Karnataka and Bihar.
The Telangana state Assembly had last month passed a bill that proposes 42 per cent quota for backward classes, 18 per cent for scheduled castes, and 10 per cent for the scheduled tribes, which aligns with the Congress’ demand for removing the cap on the 50 per cent caste-based reservation.
Rahul said Telangana is a model state for caste census and the Centre could look into it for the nation-wide process.
“It was developed by a process of consultation. It was a detailed, granular exercise where the stakeholders participated. The questionnaire was not prepared by bureaucrats sitting in air-conditioned rooms,” Rahul said.
The leader of Opposition said beyond the caste census the government has to take a stand on removal of the 50 per cent reservation cap.
“The other issue we have been speaking for is removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation. It is a huge impediment to the development of this country, the Dalits and the Adivasis,” Rahul said.
The leader of the Opposition said they will be pushing the government for the implementation of the Article 15 (V), regarding reservation in private educational institutes.
“It does not matter what the BJP thinks. We will continue to push for these issues,” he said.
Later on replying to questions, Rahul said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should act on the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack. Earlier in the day Rahul had met the family members of the victims from Kanpur.
“People were killed in cold blood. It is pretty clear who are responsible. Action has to be clear and strong without any confusion. The PM must not dilly dally. He must act firmly within a timeframe he thinks necessary, but he has to act soon,” Rahul said. “The people who did this have to pay the price.”