Mallikarjun Kharge urges PM Modi to announce a clear timeline for caste census

A process such as a caste census should not be seen as divisive in any way, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, while pushing for a constitution amendment to remove the “arbitrary” 50% cap on reservation and other key measures.

Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, told PM that, “Our great nation and our big-hearted people have always stood united in adversity. We all showed solidarity after the recent cowardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam. The Indian National Congress believes that caste census in the comprehensive manner suggested above is essential to ensure social and economic justice and equality of status and opportunity. This is also resolved in the Preamble of our Constitution.”

Kharge’s letter comes days after the Congress Working Committee, which met on April 2, emphasised that the Telangana caste survey model should be emulated by the government and demanded that “the government must immediately allocate the necessary funds and announce a clear timeline for every stage of the census.”

The Congress president reminded that while the principal Opposition party had been demanding a caste census, “Unfortunately… your party leaders and you yourself have continuously attacked the Congress Party and the Congress leadership for raising this legitimate demand. Today you yourself are admitting that this demand is in the interest of deeper social justice and social empowerment.”

Last week, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) had approved that caste enumeration would be part of the decennial census, but no further details were provided.

“Without any clear explanation, you have announced that caste will also be included as a separate category in the next census (which was scheduled for 2021),: Kharge said, as he made three suggestions.

Also Read: Kharge urges Centre to raise quota ceiling for backward communities from 50% to 68%

“The design of the census questionnaire is extremely important. Caste information should be collected not just for the sake of counting but to achieve broader socio-economic goals. The recently conducted caste survey in Telangana was designed and implemented with these objectives in mind. The Union Home Ministry should use the Telangana model for the questionnaire used in the census and the questions asked. Nothing should be hidden in the report to be published at the end of the process so that the complete socio-economic data of each caste is publicly available so that their socio-economic progress can be measured from one census to the next and they can be given constitutional rights,” Kharge said.

Pointing out to the reservation in Tamil Nadu—the only state which has more than 60% reservation—Kharge said, “Earlier in 1994, the Tamil Nadu Reservation Act was included in the Ninth Schedule of our Constitution. Similarly, the reservation acts passed by all the states should be included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. Apart from this, whatever the results of the caste census, it is clear that the arbitrary maximum limit of 50% on reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes will have to be removed through constitutional amendment.”

He also suggested new laws are required to implement Article 15(5) that give OBC reservation to both public and private educational institutions.

“I trust that you will consider my suggestions. In fact, I urge you to have an early dialogue with all political parties on the issue of caste census,” Kharge said.