Oppn welcomes decision on caste census, seeks timeline

The Opposition on Wednesday welcomed the Union government's decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

NEW DELHI:

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi called it the "first step" and "a new paradigm of development" but demanded that the government remove the 50% cap on caste-based reservation, and use Article 15(5) of the Constitution to implement quotas in private educational institutions.

Gandhi, who was the strongest votary of the caste census, said in a press conference, "We said we will remove 50% cap on reservation and break the wall. Don't know what happened, but PM Modi used to say only four people want caste census. We support the government's decision but we want timelines on when it will be done."

"This is only the first step. Telangana caste census can be a blue print. We are ready to offer our help to the government to design the caste census. Because design is very important. There is a huge difference between the (census) design of Telangana and Bihar. We want to bring a new paradigm of development through caste census. It is not only about reservation, but we are asking the central question: what would be the representation of SC, ST and OBCs?"

He was referring to the caste survey in Telangana that was conducted in 2024-25.

Calling the caste census "our vision", Gandhi maintained that the ultimate goal is to increase participation of various caste groups in power structure and their empowerment.