‘Important’: Rahul Gandhi urges Centre to conduct caste-based census nationwide

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is set to hold an all-party meeting to discuss the long-awaited caste-based census results today (October 03). Meanwhile, the opposition parties, including the Congress, welcomed the state government’s caste census results and urged the Centre to conduct this on a national level.

Rahul Gandhi wants nationwide caste-based census

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said that Bihar’s caste-based survey revealed that 84 per cent of people in the state are OBCs, SCs and STs and their rights should be provided based on their population.

Taking it to X (formerly known as Twitter), Rahul Gandhi wrote in Hindi, “Out of 90 secretaries of the central government, only three are OBCs, who handle only 5 per cent of India’s budget. Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics of India. The greater the population, the greater the rights — this is our pledge.”

बिहार की जातिगत जनगणना से पता चला है कि वहां OBC + SC + ST 84% हैं।

केंद्र सरकार के 90 सचिवों में सिर्फ़ 3 OBC हैं, जो भारत का मात्र 5% बजट संभालते हैं!

इसलिए, भारत के जातिगत आंकड़े जानना ज़रूरी है। जितनी आबादी, उतना हक़ – ये हमारा प्रण है।

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 2, 2023

Speaking about this census, the Bihar chief minister said that the caste census results revealed the economic situation of the people belonging to different groups.

He said the census will help the government to take action to ensure social justice and upliftment of all sections.

Opposition to Bihar caste-based census

RJD supremo Lalu Yadav also issued a statement, declaring that the exercise will set the tone for “a nationwide caste census which will be undertaken when we form the next government at the Centre.”

Moreover, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh welcomed the Bihar government’s caste-based survey and urged the Centre to release the results of the caste census, “which was conducted by the UPA-2 government”, however, it was “not published by the Modi government.”

He further asserted that holding caste-based surveys has become essential for providing a firmer foundation for social empowerment programmes and for deepening social justice.