Caste Census: Mallikarjun Kharge calls Centre’s move eyewash pointing to ‘meagre funding’

AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge on Thursday called the Centre’s announcement on caste-census was an “eyewash,” and the Modi regime had no true intention of taking up a genuine exercise.

The Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha said this was evident from the Rs 515 crore the Centre has earmarked for the exercise which was grossly inadequate.

Kharge, speaking at the Labour Day celebrations organized in Bengaluru by its civic body BBMP, said the Siddaramaiah regime incurred an expenditure of Rs 165 crore about 10 years ago for Karnataka’s caste census report to drive home his point that the Modi regime was not serious about its announcement.


The funding the Centre has set aside would be barely sufficient for the job in just one state of Uttar Pradesh, Kharge said.

If the Centre had indeed been serious about the caste census, it would have earmarked funds in the Union Budget. But now it has hurriedly announced one, he said.

The AICC president also mentioned about the UPA regime’s plans to extend the reservation for SC/ST and OBCs to the private sector and urged the Modi government to take the idea forward and introduce reservations in the private sector.

He also urged the Centre to give proportionate reservation to SC/STs and OBCs after taking up a proper caste census and expand the quotas by raising the ceiling of 50% on reservations.