Cong accuses govt of suppressing inconvenient data

NEW DELHI: As the G20 summit kick-started on Friday, the Congress attacked the government over delay in conducting the census by calling it “unprecedented failure”.

Raising the issue, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that there is more than three-year delay in conducting the census that has led to an estimated 14 crore people being excluded from their food entitlements. The party also accused the government of “suppressing” data that it finds “inconvenient”.

“Nearly, every other G20 country has managed to conduct the census, despite Covid-19, including other developing countries like Indonesia, Brazil, and South Africa.”

“The Modi government is so inept and incompetent that it has been unable to carry out India’s most important statistical exercise that has been conducted on schedule since 1951. This is an unprecedented failure in the history of our nation,” Ramesh said in a statement.

The Congress leader further alleged that in absence of census an estimated 14 crore Indians being excluded from their food entitlements assured to them under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

“Under NFSA, 67 percent of Indians are entitled to food rations. Since the Modi government failed to conduct the Census in 2021, it only offers NFSA coverage to 81 crore people based on the 2011 Census, whereas 95 crore Indians are entitled to the NFSA coverage, if we go by current estimates of the population,” he added.

Ramesh also attacked the government for suppressing the data of the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste census.

“The government also opposed the state-level caste census in Bihar.”