Caste census will be included in the next population census, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday during a cabinet briefing.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided today that Caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census.”
Caste census will be included in the next population census, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday during a cabinet briefing.
“According to Constitution of India, Census is a Union Subject. Some states have conducted surveys, I am repeating the word surveys, to enumerate castes. Some states have done this well, while some others have conducted such surveys purely from a political angle in a non-transparent way. Such surveys have created doubts in the state, ” he said while addressing a Cabinet briefing today.
Vaishnaw said that the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided today that Caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census. The start date is unknown.
The caste census will include information of different castes and subcastes, and the number of people in each state across the country.
The opposition had long demanded a caste census. The Centre's decision comes ahead of Bihar heading into elections later this year.
Home Minister Amit Shah said that while Congress was against the caste census when they were in power, they played politics when in opposition. According to PTI, he said that the Modi government's decision on caste census is a message of strong commitment towards social equality and rights of every section.
Congress responded that it is better late than never now that the government has decided to include caste enumeration in the next census, PTI reported.
NDTV reported that in October 2023, Bihar라이브 바카라 Chief Minister Nitish Kumar pushed through a caste survey, becoming the first state to release this data.
The survey showed that 36% of Bihar's population was from Extremely Backward Classes, 27.1% from Backward Classes, 19.7% from Scheduled Castes and 1.7% are from Scheduled Tribes.
ANI quoted Bihar's Leader of Opposition, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, saying "...We hope the census will be done before delimitation exercise...It is a slap on the faces of those who used to blame us for spreading casteism."