Congress general secretary and in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh in a post on X wrote, “India has been conducting a census regularly every 10 years. The last such census was due in 2021.”
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh
The Congress on Thursday took a jibe at the BJP-led government at the Centre over delay in conducting the census and said more than 12 core people have been “denied” due benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.
Congress general secretary and in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh in a post on X wrote, “India has been conducting a census regularly every 10 years. The last such census was due in 2021.”
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Attacking the ruling dispensation, he said, “The continuing failure to conduct the 2021 census means that vital information necessary for economic planning and for social justice programmes has not been collected. As a result, for instance, over 12 crore Indians have been denied due benefits under the National Food Security Act, 2013/PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.”
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“Now 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.
The Congress MP further 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 to conduct a census.”
It may be mentioned that the Congress has been demanding caste census for long.
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