After Bihar, clamour for caste census grows in Maha; NCP asks CM to call all-party meeting

After the Bihar government decided to conduct a caste-based census, the clamour for the same exercise grew in Maharashtra with NCP taking the initiative. In a meeting of senior party functionaries chaired by Sharad Pawar on Thursday, NCP renewed the pitch for enumerating the population on caste lines to ascertain the social status of different communities. Speaking to the media later, Water Resources Minister and Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil revealed that he will request CM Uddhav Thackeray to convene an all-party meeting to discuss this issue. 

Jayant Patil remarked, "It is necessary to conduct a caste-based census. This is NCP's demand. On behalf of NCP, I am going to urge the Honourable Chief Minister today to call an all-party meeting on the issue." 

Addressing a meeting of the NCP OBC cell on May 25, Sharad Pawar had backed the concept of a caste census, saying that such an exercise was necessary to ensure social equality. He observed, "We are not asking anything for free. There is no option but to conduct a caste-based census". Highlighting that SCs and STs had benefited owing to reservations granted by the Constitution, the NCP supremo opined that OBCs require similar concessions which can be possible only if the government knows the exact population of OBCs. 

Caste-based census in Bihar

After a consensus was reached in the June 1 all-party meeting on carrying out the enumeration of the population on caste lines, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announced that the Cabinet would clear this proposal. It is pertinent to mention here that the Bihar Assembly had unanimously passed resolutions on February 18, 2019, and February 27, 2020, demanding a caste-based census. While Kumar himself led an all-party delegation to PM Modi on this issue, the Union government refused to enumerate the population caste-wise, except for those from the SCs and STs.

Revealing that this exercise will be named 'Jaati Adharit Ganana' (Caste-based headcount), the JDU leader stressed that the survey shall also take into account people belonging to all religions and their socio-economic conditions. Refuting the notion that BJP was against this proposal, he clarified, “The Centre expressed its inability. It does not mean they (BJP) were opposed (to caste census) at any time. Their representatives accompanied us when we met the PM. You can see their representatives here". A budgetary allocation of Rs.500 crore has been made for the survey which will be completed by February 23, 2023.