Tezzbuzz Desk: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the process of caste census. Expressing concern over the current 'open-ended' method, both the leaders demanded that the census process be changed to ascertain the true number of castes and their socio-economic status.
Rahul Gandhi and Kharge said in the letter that to make policies to social justice effective, accurate data of the actual population of different castes and communities in the country is necessary. According to him, in the current system, the name of the person's caste will be recorded by directly asking him, due to which the same caste can be registered with different names in different states, languages and regions.
Congress leaders expressed apprehension that if this happens, the same caste may get divided into many different names and the number of castes will appear much higher than the actual number. This will make analysis of caste data difficult and correct assessment of social and economic situation will not be possible.
In the letter, Rahul Gandhi and Kharge said that if the numbers of a community are not recorded correctly then the assessment of its socio-economic condition will also be affected. This may impact policies to education, employment, government schemes and social justice.
Both the leaders especially raised questions regarding the figures of OBC population. He says that due to lack of clear option to backward class in the current questionnaire, there may be difficulty in revealing the actual number of OBCs in the country.
Congress leaders already prepared for identification of castes drop down list Use is suggested. Under this, the names of officially recognized castes will be available in the census form or digital app and the enumerator will be able to choose from the list according to the caste of the person concerned.
Rahul Gandhi and Kharge say that a similar system is used in the calculation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. He suggested that the list of castes could be prepared on the basis of official sources like government records, lists of socially and educationally backward classes and the Anthropological Survey of India.
Congress leaders in their letter have also mentioned the caste surveys conducted in Telangana and Bihar. He says that in these states a list-based process was adopted for identification of castes. Both the leaders have also attached with their letter the caste lists used in the caste surveys of these states.
Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge have demanded the government to withdraw the existing questionnaire and prepare a new questionnaire after discussion with political parties, experts and other concerned parties. He says that the caste census should be such that reliable data on the number of all castes and communities in the country comes out and it can be used in making policies to social justice.
