‘Surveys Used As Political Instrument’: Why Modi Govt Determined To Embrace Caste Information In Census – News18
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BJP sources stated earlier Congress governments have at all times opposed a caste-based census as this parameter was not included in operations performed since independence
Forward of the meeting elections in Bihar, this main choice by the Narendra Modi-led authorities is greater than a strategic transfer. (Picture: PTI/File)
Alleging that the states dominated by opposition events have executed caste surveys for political causes, the Centre on Wednesday stated the Narendra Modi-led authorities will embrace caste enumeration within the forthcoming pan-India census train in a “clear” method.
Throughout a gathering of the cupboard, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated the census comes underneath the purview of the Centre however some states have executed caste enumeration within the identify of surveys.
Forward of the meeting elections in Bihar, the place a caste survey was performed in 2022, this main choice is greater than a strategic transfer. Opposition events, together with the Congress, have been demanding a nationwide caste census making it a serious election challenge, whereas another states like Telangana and Karnataka have additionally performed such surveys.
The census train was to begin in April 2020 however was delayed as a result of Covid-19 pandemic. The Congress and the opposition INDIA bloc had made caste census a serious ballot plank within the earlier elections, with Rahul Gandhi promising illustration to folks primarily based on their inhabitants.
‘CONGRESS HAS ALWAYS OPPOSED CASTE-BASED CENSUS’
In line with BJP sources, the federal government’s choice displays its dedication to the values and pursuits of the society and nation, a lot in the identical manner the reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) was launched with out inflicting stress in some other part.
The BJP sources stated earlier Congress governments have at all times opposed a caste-based census as this parameter was not included in operations performed since independence. It was in 2010, then prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh had assured the Lok Sabha that the matter of a caste census will likely be thought-about by the cupboard, they stated.
The sources stated a crew of ministers was fashioned to contemplate the topic. A majority of the political events had really helpful caste census, they stated.
They additional stated regardless of this, the Congress determined to conduct solely a survey as a substitute of a caste census – the Socio Financial and Caste Census (SECC). However, it’s nicely understood that the Congress and its INDIA bloc allies have used caste census solely as a political instrument, they added.
Article 246 of the Structure states that the census is listed at 69 within the Union Checklist within the Seventh Schedule, making it a Centre topic. However, some states have performed surveys to enumerate castes, the sources stated.
Whereas some states have executed this nicely, others have performed them from a purely political angle in a non-transparent method, they stated. Such surveys have created doubt in society, they added.
Therefore, the sources stated, contemplating all these information and to make sure that the social material will not be disturbed by politics, caste enumeration ought to be transparently included within the census as a substitute of surveys. This can strengthen the social and financial construction whereas the nation continues to progress, they stated.
(With PTI inputs)
