By Manoj Srivastava
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya strongly supported the Centre’s decision to conduct a caste-based census, calling it a transformative move that would socially and economically empower all sections of society. He said the initiative would inject new energy into the nation and accelerate the journey towards a developed India.
Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement, Maurya expressed gratitude, stating, “Only a leader with the unwavering resolve of PM Modi could take such a historic decision.” He criticised the Congress party for its decades-long resistance to caste census, despite being in power for the majority of India’s post-independence history.
Maurya recalled how the Congress-led UPA government had promised caste enumeration in 2010 but failed to deliver. “In the Lok Sabha, the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh assured that the matter would be considered in the Cabinet. Yet, then Home Minister P. Chidambaram opposed the inclusion of caste in the main census and recommended a separate survey instead,” he said.
Highlighting the inefficiencies of the Congress-led survey known as the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), Maurya said, “They spent ₹4,893.60 crore on the SECC, which was riddled with 8.19 crore errors, as revealed in 2015. This shows their lack of seriousness. Even the caste survey conducted by the Congress in Karnataka was never made public, exposing a severe lack of transparency.”
He underlined that caste census can be meaningful and authentic only if it is done as part of the nationwide census. “Data collected independently, without proper framework or intention, serves no real purpose,” Maurya asserted.
He praised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its consistent stance on the issue, noting that Home Minister Amit Shah had already clarified that the BJP was not opposed to caste census. The party had also supported the caste-based census in Bihar.
Referring to the history of caste enumeration in India, Maurya noted, “Caste-based census was conducted till 1931. In 1941, data was collected but never published. Since 1951, every census has included data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but not on Other Backward Classes (OBCs) or other communities.”
He emphasized that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has always supported caste census as a means to uplift and empower society. Thanking Prime Minister Modi once again, Maurya said the decision has infused a fresh wave of hope and progress in the country. “This move will help shape a more inclusive and equitable India,” he concluded.
