Updated September 25th, 2021 at 12:38 IST
Tejashwi Yadav writes to 33 senior non-BJP politicians on caste census; seeks action plan
Batting for caste census in 2021, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday, wrote to 33 top non-BJP politicians seeking support for demanding the same from Centre
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Batting for caste census in 2021, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday, wrote to 33 top non-BJP politicians seeking support for demanding the same from the Modi government. Stating that the Centre was stonewalling the collective caste census demand, he told the leaders to urge the Centre to conclude within the delayed 2021 censis the caste census as well. Arguing that the caste census data of 2011 should be corrected, he told the leaders to send him suggestions and inputs to prepare a united plan of action.
Tejashwi: 'Must unite in demanding caste census'
The Bihar LoP said, "Centre submitted affidavit before SC saying they won't allow caste census. It's the conscious decision of Bihar & 80-90% of Indians that caste census should take place. It (caste-based census) is of national interest. We need scientific statistics. We are giving 2-3 days time to CM (Nitish Kumar) to think about this. We want to see his reaction and we need his statement, after which we'll discuss our action plan".
The leaders witten to include - Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, MK Stalin, Mamata Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik, Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, Nitish Kumar, Farooq Abdullah, Parkash Singh Badal, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Uddhav Thackeray, KCR, Jaganmohan Reddy, Mehbooba Mufti, Hemant Soren, Pinarayi Vijayan, Arvind Kejriwal, Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel, Charanjit Singh Channi, Om Prakash Chautala, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Badruddin Ajmal, Jayant Chaudhary, O Panneerselvam, Om Prakash Pajbhar, Chirag Paswan, Akhtarul Iman, Mukesh Sahni and Chandra Shekhar Aazad.
I have written to many senior leaders of our country about our shared apprehension and responsibilities in the context of the ongoing demand for Socio-Economic and Caste Census and the apathy of the ruling party at the centre towards the same. #CasteCensus pic.twitter.com/OGqrRyoFiw
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi)
It (caste-based census) is of national interest. We need scientific statistics. We are giving 2-3 days time to CM (Nitish Kumar) to think about this. We want to see his reaction and we need his statement, after which we'll discuss our action plan: Bihar LoP Tejashwi Yadav pic.twitter.com/uKFvAhryDH
— ANI (@ANI)
Centre's affidavit on caste census
On 21 September, Centre filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying it is not feasible to collect information on Backward Class of Citizens (BCC) in the forthcoming census. Centre also said that mistakes committed by enumerators and inherent flaws in the information-collection exercise has rendered the Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC-2011) data unusable and cannot be relied upon for any statutory exercise such as reservations in admission, promotion or local body elections. The affidavit was in response to a petition filed by the Maharashtra government in August, seeking declaration of SECC-2011 raw caste data of OBCs.
Recently, an all-party delegation from Bihar led by CM Nitish Kumar and LoP Tejashwi Yadav met PM Modi seeking all-India caste census. The Bihar Assembly passed a resolution in 2019 and February 2020 backing the same. Last year, Odisha joined Maharashtra and Bihar to become the third State to request to collect caste details in the forthcoming Census. On the other hand, the Union Home Ministry said that the Centre would not be including caste wise data on population other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the national Census.
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Published September 25th, 2021 at 12:38 IST