Many opposition parties including Congress have been demanding caste census for a long time. Meanwhile, Congress on Thursday suggested that the government can collect caste-wise data of OBC population by adding only one additional column in the next census. Congress said that a similar process has been going on since 1951 to obtain data of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The opposition party said that this move of the government can further strengthen the basis of Affirmative action (giving assistance to members of deprived groups). Let us tell you that this demand of Congress has come to the fore after the report, which said that the central government can conduct the census soon.
What did Jairam Ramesh say?
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared a newspaper report on ‘X’ which said that the central government is yet to take a decision on conducting the next census process but active discussions are underway to expand data collection to include caste count.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, ‘India has been conducting a regular census every ten years. The last census was to be held in 2021. But it did not happen. The continued failure to conduct the 2021 census means that important information required for economic planning and social justice programs has not been collected.’ He said that now there are reports that the central government may conduct this long-pending census in the next few months.
Jairam Ramesh said that since 1951, every census has been collecting caste-wise data on the population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes without any difficulty. In such a situation, caste-wise data of OBC population can also be collected by adding only one additional column. He said that this will also fulfill the widespread demand for caste census and will give a more solid basis to positive action programs. Ramesh said that conducting the census is the responsibility of the Central Government alone.
Congress has been continuously raising the demand
Let us tell you that Congress has been demanding caste census for a long time. Now Congress argues that along with the census, the government should also clear the way for caste census. This will pave the way for providing justice to SC, ST and OBC. Even during the assembly elections held in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana before the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi had continuously demanded this.