Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday pitched for a caste-based census in 2021, adding that it will play a crucial role in all facts will come to light with the move. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar added, as quoted by ANI, “The population of scheduled tribes and scheduled castes and other backward classes has increased but the limit (for quotas) is 50 per cent. The only data we have on this is from 1931 (census). In such a situation the best solution is caste-based census, it should be done and all will become clear“.
He added that the Population of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other backwards classes had gone up for the previous data recorded in 1931.
Kumar had raised the caste-based issue on Thursday – January 24 – the birth anniversary of veteran socialist leader and former chief minister Karpoori Thakur. He asserted that “The reservation in Bihar by Karpoori Thakur ji divided backward classes into two categories, extremely backward and backward. We want the Centre to do so too,” Kumar added referring to the reservation policy for the backward classes, brought by the former Chief Minister of the state, which included provisions for a sub-quota for the most backward classes (MBCs)’
The next census scheduled in 2021 will see for the first time, the collection of data on OBCs. The use of maps or geo-referencing at the time of house listing is also being considered for this census.
While Leader of Opposition in Bihar and RJD Leader Tejashwi Yadav, on the side, also pitched caste-based issue. He hit out at the Central government for 10 per cent quota bill for General Category. He said in a gathering “You see how smartly they have tampered the law which protected the rights of the dailt and the backward people. They knew that till the time my father was out, nobody had the courage to fiddle with the constitution and so they put him behind the bars”
He also racked up Modi government over the issue on social networking site Twitter, he said, “We opposed the way in which the reservation law was imposed. The centre changed the very spirit of the constitution in a matter of hours. People in this income slab have to
pay Rs. 72,500 as tax every year. How can people who pay such tax be given benefits due to the poor? ”
बताओ, किस आधार पर मनुवादी सरकार ने जातिगत आरक्षण व सामाजिक पिछड़ेपन का आधार बदल आर्थिक आधार में तब्दील कर रहे है? किस रिपोर्ट, आयोग और सर्वेक्षण के आधार पर?
अब इनकी मनमानी नहीं चलेगी। ये चालाक क़िस्म के लोग है। युगों-युगों से पिछड़ों-दलितों को ठगते आए है। मूर्ख बनाते आए है।
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) January 25, 2019