Modi government bows down on caste census: What is Amit Shah’s indication
# News Bureau September 18,2024
Asked whether the government will conduct a caste census, which is a major demand of the opposition, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday did not rule out the possibility, saying a decision on the census, which is pending since 2021, will be taken at the time of its announcement. That is, when the government announces a general census in the country, it will clarify its stand on the caste census at the same time. Earlier, government sources had said that the government will provide a column for caste in the census column itself and by doing so it will not have to conduct a caste census.
At a press conference on the completion of 100 days of the NDA government’s third term on Tuesday, the Home Minister said that the count will start “very soon”.
The opposition has taken the issue of caste census forward in a measured manner. For the last two years, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi started demanding caste census. BJP and RSS indirectly opposed caste census. Recently, RSS had supported caste census but it had expressed apprehension of division of society into castes and increase in hatred. It had put many ifs and buts and said that the data of caste census should not be used for elections. When Rahul Gandhi started raising this demand from public platforms two years ago, Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of the then Mahagathbandhan (RJD, JDU, Congress) government in Bihar, had conducted a caste survey and announced to implement a new system of reservation on that basis. After that, Nitish turned around and formed a new government by allying with BJP. After Rahul, Samajwadi Party and RJD raised the demand for nationwide caste census.
Amit Shah also answered several other questions in this press conference. Responding to a question about the recent violence in Manipur and the government’s plan to deal with it, Shah said that fencing has started on the India-Myanmar border, which he described as the “origin” of the problems. He said that 30 kilometers of fencing has been completed in 100 days and the government has approved the budget for the entire 1,500-kilometer-long border. He said, the government has suspended the free movement arrangement with Myanmar.
Amit Shah said that “CRPF has been successfully deployed at strategic locations… There were many security loopholes on the border which have been fixed. Recently there were violent incidents for three days. Apart from this, there has been no major incident in the last three months. I hope we will be able to control it. No solution can be found unless there is a dialogue between the two groups. We are in talks with Kuki groups and Meitei groups. We have made a roadmap to make every possible effort.”
The BJP, which will win 240 seats in 2024, is dependent on its allies including TDP, Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) for a majority. LJP (Ram Vilas Paswan), which is supporting the BJP on caste census, has also said that caste census is needed. Similarly, the opinion of NDA parties is divided on one country one election. The opinion of NDA parties is different on the Waqf Bill. In this way, it will not be easy for the Modi government to get support on these issues.