Cabinet decides to include caste survey in next census | India News
NEW DELHI: In a Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the government has decided to include a caste survey in the main census.
“Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided today that Caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census,” said Ashiwini Vaishnaw.
The minister also attacked the Congress party for “opposing” the caste census, claiming that late Dr Manmohan Singh had said in 2010 that “the matter of caste census should be considered in the Cabinet”.
“On caste census included with national census, Union Minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw says, “Congress govts have always opposed the caste census. In 2010, the late Dr Manmohan Singh said 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,” he said.
Vaishnaw, in a jab at the Congress party, said some state governments have conducted caste surveys from “a political angle in a non-transparent way”. The minister’s remark was in a a reference to surveys conducted in Congress-ruled Telangana and Karnataka.
“It is well understood that Congress and its INDI alliance partners have used the caste census only as a political tool. Some states have conducted surveys to enumerate castes. While some states have done this well, some others conducted such surveys only from a political angle in a non-transparent way. Such surveys created doubts in society. To ensure that our social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be included in the census instead of surveys,” the minister said.
