Center will start census from 2025, why is the government silent on caste census?
#News Bureau October 31,2024
India Today quoted sources as saying that the central government is likely to start the census in 2025 and complete it by 2026. The exercise to count the country’s population will be delayed by four years. Congress questioned the Modi government’s silence on caste census. Congress said on Monday that on one hand the tenure of the Census Commissioner is being extended, on the other hand the government has maintained silence on the caste census.
The report said that after the completion of the census, the BJP-led government will start the exercise of delimitation of Lok Sabha seats. It is understood that the delimitation exercise will probably be completed by 2028.
The broad outline of the census has not yet been revealed. But the Congress raised questions about it on Monday. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote on X on Monday – The extension of the tenure of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner has just been notified. This means that the census to be held in 2021, which has been delayed for a long time, will finally be conducted soon. But there is still no clarity on two important issues.
Putting forward both the issues, Jairam Ramesh said that apart from the census of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes that has been done in every census since 1951, will this new census include a detailed census of all the castes of the country? According to the Constitution of India, such caste census is the responsibility of the central government. He said – Will this census be used to determine the number of representatives of each state in the Lok Sabha as provided in Article 82 of the Indian Constitution (which says that the first census conducted after the year 2026 and the publication of its results will be the basis for any such reorganization)? Will this harm those states which have been leading in family planning? In such a situation, it would be best to call an all-party meeting soon to get clarity on these two important issues.
Next year’s census may include a survey of sub-castes within the general and SC-ST categories. The number of people from the general, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories will also be recorded in it. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had given such an indication long ago. But no order or notification of any kind has been issued by the government.
Reacting to the report, Congress leader Manickam Tagore said the government’s refusal to conduct a caste census is a betrayal of the OBC communities. “Modi’s refusal to conduct a caste census is a clear betrayal of the OBC communities. Ignoring the voices demanding justice, he is depriving our people of their due representation – all because of political arrogance. Will the RSS, JDU and TDP stand with the people or remain silent?” he wrote on Twitter.