Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday promised to conduct a caste-based census in Madhya Pradesh if the Congress comes to power in the upcoming state assembly elections. Gandhi made the promise while addressing a public meeting in Jawad, a town in Neemuch district. He said that a caste-based census is necessary to understand the true extent of caste-based discrimination in India and to design effective policies to address it.
“The population of OBCs (Other Backward Classes) is nearly 50%,” Gandhi said. “I told PM Modi to do a caste-based census. After that, PM Modi said in a speech that there is no caste in India. There are only the poor. We will do a caste-based census after our government comes to Madhya Pradesh. Everyone should know how much their population is and how much right they have on budget and government.”
Gandhi’s promise of a caste-based census is significant for a number of reasons. It highlights the growing demand for a caste-based census in India. The last caste-based census was conducted in 1931, and there is no reliable data on the caste composition of the Indian population since then. This lack of data has made it difficult to assess the extent of caste-based discrimination and to design effective policies to address it.
Gandhi’s promise is a challenge to the Narendra Modi government’s refusal to conduct a caste-based census. The Modi government has argued that a caste-based census would be divisive and would harm social harmony. However, Gandhi’s statement suggests that the Congress believes that the benefits of a caste-based census outweigh the risks.
Gandhi’s promise is a pitch to the OBC community, which makes up nearly 50% of the population of Madhya Pradesh. The OBCs are a diverse group of castes, and they have historically been underrepresented in government and other institutions. A caste-based census would provide the OBCs with more accurate data on their population, which could help them to demand greater representation and resources.