Caste Census: Rahul Gandhi Welcomes Govt's Move, Asks For A Timeline

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday welcomed Modi government's decision to conduct a caste census. Rahul Gandhi asked the government to establish a concrete timeline for the census's execution and highlighted Congress' willingness to assist in its planning and execution.

Addresing the media, Rahul Gandhi said, "We had said in the Parliament that we will make Caste Census happen. We had also said that we would scrap the 50 per cent cap, the artificial wall that is in place. Narendra Modi used to say that there are just four cases. Don't know what happened but suddenly after 11 years, the Caste Census has been announced. We completely support it, but we want a timeline. We want to know by when this will happen. This is the first step. Telangana has become a model in the Caste Census and it can become a blueprint. We offer our support to the Govt in designing the Caste Census...There are two examples - Bihar's and Telangana's and there is a vast difference between the two..."

Earlier today, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, following the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs' meeting, announced that a caste census will be done across the nation. Ashwinin Vaishnaw said that while the census is a central responsibility, some states have previously conducted their own caste surveys. The minister criticized these state-led initiatives, often spearheaded by opposition parties, as politically motivated. However, he affirmed the Modi government's dedication to executing this task transparently across the country. The census, originally scheduled to start in April 2020, faced delays due to the Covid pandemic, pushing back its initiation.

This initiative is not without precedence. States like Bihar and Telangana have previously undertaken similar exercises, with Telangana's approach being lauded by Rahul Gandhi as a potential model for the national census. Gandhi's call for a defined timeline underscores the importance of this exercise in shaping future policy and governance strategies.