New Delhi: The Congress on Monday cited Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan’s remarks that many Census data sets will be published in 2027 itself to claim that the grounds on which Constitution amendment Bills are being sought to be “bulldozed” through Parliament are “false”.
In a post on X, the Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, “Constitution amendment Bills are being sought to be bulldozed through in the next few days on the grounds that Census results will not be available since 2029.”
“This information given by the RG&CCI proves that these grounds are false,” he said and tagged a post on Narayan’s remarks that the first set of Census data will be issued in 2027.
Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner Narayan on Monday asked people to give accurate information to Census enumerators, asserting that the individual data will remain confidential and cannot be used as evidence or for getting any benefit under any scheme.
Addressing a press conference, Narayan said, “Earlier, data was collected on physical paper which took a lot of time in digitisation. We will start getting digital data right from the start, hence we will be able to issue such data very early. Many data sets will be published in 2027 itself.”
Ramesh’s remarks come amid efforts by the government to reach a consensus on amending the women’s quota law for its early implementation. The government was planning to bring Bills to ensure that the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill, passed in September 2023, is implemented even before the delimitation exercise for Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies which can be carried out only after the census is completed.
The law is officially known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act.
The Congress last week asked why the government was in a “great hurry” to amend the women’s quota law.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded that an all-party meeting should be held on the matter after the current round of Assembly elections is completed in April.