New Delhi: Several opposition parties on Monday raised the pitch for a caste-based census in the country and giving reservation according to the population of ST, SC and OBC communities, with the Congress accusing the central government of resisting it while playing politics on the issue.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the underprivileged need economic and political power and not empty words as he again called for removing the 50 per cent ceiling on quota and demanded reservations for Dalits and tribals based on their population.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding an up-to-date caste census, saying meaningful social justice and empowerment programmes are incomplete without such data. Supporting the Congress’ demand, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar said such a census would be beneficial for all sections of society. The BJP unit in Bihar had supported a resolution at an all-party meeting convened by Nitish Kumar and later a unanimous resolution was passed in the Bihar Assembly on caste census. However, the BJP’s central leadership is yet to respond to the demand for a socio-economic and caste census raised now by the Congress and other opposition parties. “Prime Minister ji, the underprivileged need political and economic power, not empty words,” Gandhi said in a tweet.
“Take these three steps: Make the 2011 census figures public, tell how many OBCs are there in the country and remove the 50 percent cap on reservations. Give reservation to Dalits, tribals according to their population,” he said.
Besides the Congress, JD(U) and the RJD, which are part of the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ alliance in Bihar, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have also been vociferously demanding caste-based census.
Early this month, DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin lent support to the demand along with other opposition parties during a conference convened by his party on social justice.
“There should be a caste census, this is the demand of the whole country. There is a demand in Tamil Nadu, there is a demand in Bihar. Why is the BJP running away?” Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said on Monday.
BJP ally Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, meanwhile, also demanded an increase in the reservation for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. RLJP leader Pashupati Kumar Paras is a cabinet minister in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. The Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), which has five Lok Sabha MPs, is based in Bihar and draws support from a section of Dalits.
The Bihar chief minister said the survey report would help the government in better implementation of welfare schemes for socially and economically disadvantaged groups.