Caste census to be included in population surve

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the Caste census will be included in the next national census exercise in a “transparent manner”.

He said that a decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided to include caste enumeration in forthcoming census exercise,” the Union Minister said in a media briefing on Wednesday, adding that it will ensure that the society is economically and socially empowered, and the nation progress as well.

The census exercise was to commence in April 2020 but got delayed due to the Covid pandemic. Had the exercise been carried out as per the 10-year schedule, the report would have been published in 2021.

While announcing the big Cabinet decision, Vaishnaw trained guns on the Congress, saying the party always opposed the caste census. He also attacked other INDIA bloc parties, accusing them of using the caste-based population count only to gain political mileage.

“Congress governments have always opposed the caste census. In 2010, the late Dr Manmohan Singh said in the Parliament that the matter of caste census should be considered in the Cabinet. A group of ministers was formed to consider this subject. Most of the political parties have recommended a caste census. Despite this, the Congress government thought it appropriate to conduct a survey known as SECC,” Vaishnaw said.

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