The Congress on Monday posed questions to the BJP-led government at the Centre over the long-awaited Census, demanding that the ruling dispensation call an all-party meeting to clarify the issues related to it. The party’s demand came following media reports which claimed that the Census is likely to be conducted by the government next year.

Congress general secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh in a post on X, wrote, “The extension of the tenure of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner has just been notified. It means that the long-delayed Census that was due in 2021 will finally be conducted soon. But there is still absolutely no clarity on two crucial issues.”

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He asked if the “new Census” will include a detailed enumeration of all castes in the country, in addition to that of scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) that has been done in every Census since 1951.The Congress MP said as per the Constitution of India, such a Caste Census is the sole responsibility of the Union government.

“Will this Census be used for determining the strength of each state in the Lok Sabha as provided for in Article 82 of the Constitution of India (which says that the first Census taken after the year 2026 and the publication of its results will be the basis of any such reconstitution)? Will this work to the disadvantage of states that have been pioneers in family planning? It would be most appropriate if an all-party meeting is held soon to get clarity on these two vital issues,” he said.

It may be mentioned that in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had vowed to conduct Caste Census in its manifesto if voted to power.