Wrong advice
Sir — From ginger for a sore throat to chamomile tea for sleeplessness, everyone has home remedies up their sleeve for various ailments because these are mostly believed to be harmless. But when one visits a doctor, one expects nothing but the most sound medical advice. So one can only imagine the bewilderment of the parents who were advised by a doctor in Uttar Pradesh to make their five-year-old son smoke a cigarette to make his cough go away. The doctor has since been transferred and a probe has been ordered against him. Given such incidents, is it any wonder that people want to try home remedies?
Kaushik Gupta,
Bengaluru
Positive step
Sir — Backtracking on its earlier stance on a caste census, the Bharatiya Janata Party has now declared that detailed caste data will be a part of the upcoming national census expected to be conducted next year (“Caste census but no timeline”, May 1). Almost overnight, BJP leaders have begun to praise this decision as a bold and historic step towards social justice and informed policy-making. These same people had previously insisted that such a move would deepen caste divisions rather than promote unity in the country. Clearly, they are driven by selfish motives rather than the interests of the people.
Avinash Godboley,
Dewas, Madhya Pradesh
Sir — The BJP’s decision to hold a caste census is surprising. A caste census may lead to agitations as various groups will demand increased quotas. In fact, the leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, has already demanded the removal of the 50% cap on reservations. A caste census, if conducted, must aim to help the poor and needy.
Sravana Ramachandran,
Chennai
Sir — A caste census involves systematically recording individuals’ caste identities during a national census. In India, where caste influences social, economic, and political life, such data can offer valuable insights into the socio-economic status of various caste groups. Caste enumeration was a regular feature of census exercises from 1881 to 1931. However, with the first census of independent India in 1951, the government chose to discontinue the practice, except for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The last attempt at collecting caste data at a national level took place in 2011 through the Socio-Economic and Caste Census to assess the socio-economic conditions of households alongside caste information.
Dimple Wadhawan,
Kanpur
Sir — The decision by the Narendra Modi-led government to hold a caste census is a necessary step to establish social justice, implement reservations fairly, and deliver welfare schemes to the eligible communities.
Abdullah Jameel Azmi,
Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh
Sir — It is heartening that the National Democratic Alliance government has acquiesced to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming census. Although the government had previously slammed the Opposition parties for using caste surveys as a political tool, it had to succumb to the pressures of some of the states and the INDIA group. It is hoped that the census aids social justice and development.
N. Mahadevan,
Chennai
Sir — The Narendra Modi government has not specified a timeline for the caste census. It is odd that the Union minister of railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, criticised the Congress for not taking any interest in a caste census when the Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, has been demanding a caste census in Parliament for years alongside leaders from the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The Modi government has probably announced the caste census to divert voters’ attention from the recent terror attack in Pahalgam and to win votes in Bihar.
A. K. Chakraborty,
Guwahati
