As Centre announces caste enumeration, Congress's top brass to decide next move on Friday

The Congress party's working committee (CWC) will meet on Friday to discuss the Central government's move to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming census exercise. This is the first time caste enumeration has been made part of the census exercise. 

 

The top leadership of the party will meet on Friday evening and discuss the way forward, sources in the know of the developments said. Congress and the opposition had been claiming credit for the Union government's announcement. The opposition claims it was their sustained protests that forced the Narendra Modi government to make the announcement. 

 

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had welcomed the announcement and said the opposition will ensure the Centre conducts a comprehensive census and not just a bureaucratic census. Welcoming the announcement, Gandhi tweeted, "We will ensure they conduct a comprehensive and consultative census - a people’s census, not a bureaucratic census; we will continue to press for the removal of the arbitrary 50% cap on reservations; and  we will ensure Article 15(5) of the Constitution which promises reservation in private education is fully enacted."

 

 

Gandhi asserted that the Centre should give a timeline for its implementation and "immediate suspicion is that this could go the women's bill way in terms of implementation". 

 

The caste census was one of the major poll planks of Congress during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Some states like Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka have conducted caste surveys.

 

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday announced the Centre's decision to include caste enumeration as part of forthcoming census exercise. Vaishnaw said though some states have conducted caste enumeration, they were conducted "non-transparently" and it has created doubts in the society. 

 

India