Congress questions Centre's intention on caste census

A day after the government announced the schedule for the census, Congress tried to air suspicion about the BJP-led regime's commitment to hold a caste census. The opposition party appeared sceptical even after the Centre's statement that caste enumeration will be held along with the census.

"The intention of the Centre appears to buy time, grab headlines and manage the narrative," AICC general secretary Sachin Pilot said at an official press conference on Tuesday, questioning the government's seriousness to conduct a caste census. Stressing on the Rahul Gandhi-led demand for caste census, Pilot said the government's intention is doubtful.

"The objective is not just to collect data on an individual's caste but to understand the living conditions of these families and create policies to substantially improve their livelihoods. Without tangible data, no state or central government can implement targeted interventions, which is what we aimed to achieve," he said, while projecting the recent caste survey conducted by the Congress government in Telangana as a model to emulate. Making a case that the budgetary allocation for the census is inadequate, he said: "They plan to start the exercise in 2027, but the required funding for the census is ₹10,000 crore, whereas the government has allocated (in the last budget) only ₹574 crore," he said.


While Congress is trying to make an issue with an eye on the Bihar assembly polls, party circles are doubtful of the sustainability of its grouse as the ruling establishment is bound to roll out all details of the census exercise.