Government can collect caste-wise data of OBCs by adding extra column in census questionnaire: Congress

The Congress has been demanding a caste census along with the routine Census, saying it will pave the way for providing justice to SCs, STs and OBCs.

New Delhi: Amid little clarity on when the much delayed Census will begin, Congress on Thursday said the government can easily collect caste-wise OBC population data during the exercise by just adding an extra column.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said the "continued failure" to conduct Census has meant that vital information necessary for economic planning and social justice programmes has not been collected, resulting in over 12 crore Indians being denied benefits under the food security law and PM Garib Kalyan Yojana.

His remarks came following media reports that the union government is yet to take a call on when to start the Census 2021 but there is active discussion on whether to expand the data collection to include caste enumeration.

The I.N.D.I.A bloc, especially the Congress, has been demanding a nationwide Caste Census and it was also a campaign plank for the Opposition in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Congress' Lok Sabha Whip Manickam Tagore claimed on 'X', "after persistent efforts by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, the NDA government is finally moving forward with the Caste Census and delayed Census...It is clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is weak after 2024 (elections) and we have the strong leadership of Rahul-ji."

In his post, Ramesh said there are reports that the Union Government may conduct this long overdue and unacceptably delayed Census over the next few months.

"Every Census since 1951 has been collecting data caste-wise on the population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Without any difficulty, just by adding an extra column, the Census questionnaire can also collect caste-wise data of the OBC population as well," he said.

"This will fulfil the widespread demand for a caste census and will give more solid foundations to affirmative action programmes. “Census” is entry number 69 in the Union List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India—which means that it is the responsibility of the Union Government alone to conduct a Census," Ramesh added.

The Census 2021 was postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic and it is now expected to start later this year though the government has not made the schedule public. The Census will be conducted in two phases -- first being house listing and housing schedule followed by population enumeration.