New Delhi, May 7: The UPA government is apparently ready for a caste-based census. On Friday, the last day of the Budget Session, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated that the government was considering incorporating castes in the 2011 Census. Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh also assured the Lok Sabha, saying, “I am aware of the views of MPs belonging to all sections. I assure that the Cabinet will take a decision shortly.”
Dr Singh’s remarks pacified MPS who had forced an adjournment of the House on the issue earlier on Friday.
Several leaders of the Congress and its allies have also been favouring the proposal to include caste information in the census. Those backing it were Mr Kapil Sibal, Mr Veerappa Moily and Dr Farooq Abdullah, while Mr P. Chidambaram and Mr Sharad Pawar were against it. The DMK, a UPA ally, was also in favour.
Mr Mukherjee’s remarks that the government could include caste information in the 2011 Census came after the PM’s assurance that the government would take into consideration the views of the House. Mr Mukherjee had earlier also held parleys with SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav and BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde, who favoured a caste-based census. Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mr Chidambaram were also present during the meeting.
Mr Chidambaram had earlier told the House that the issue of caste not being included in the census has been the policy since Independence. “The main objective of the population census is to do an accurate de facto head count of the usual residents in India on the deemed date, i.e. 00.00 hours on March 1, 2011. Based on universally applied scientific demographic tools, we have an estimate of what the population of India will be on that day,” he added.
Sanjay Basak