Caste census without economic indicators is of little value, says Congress leader Sachin Pilot
The party's articulation of this position comes at a time when its Karnataka unit is under pressure from the politically dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities, who are upset over being 'undercounted' in a survey commissioned by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in 2015.
New Delhi: The Congress Tuesday said a caste census that merely records caste identities would hold little value, stressing that the exercise should aim to assess people's living standards and the impact of government welfare schemes on their lives.
A cornered Congress has attempted to wriggle out of the situation by ordering a re-enumeration of castes in Karnataka within the next three months. And, that is why its latest underlining that a caste census must go beyond enumeration of caste identities is significant.
'The objective of the exercise is not just to get the name and the caste of a person, that I don't think has that much value. The real value is that you understand in what condition they are living, how successful the schemes have been so far, are the targeted budgets and policy programmes reaching the ones that we are intending for,' Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot said at a press conference at the party's new headquarters in Delhi's Kotla Marg.
The former Rajasthan deputy chief minister said Rahul Gandhi's pitch for a nation-wide caste census was always about carrying out an 'x-ray' of the country, rather than simply counting castes.
'When we said, we wanted a caste census, the objective was to know exactly in what conditions people of India are living, those who are being deprived, who are not in the mainstream, how much have they got education, how much access they have to government schemes and policy programs, in what economic condition are they living, what is an expanding, household incomes, all that is required for us to do better policy combination,' he said..
The idea, he added, is not just to collect data of an individual's caste or a household's caste.
'The objective is to know exactly in what condition these families are living and how we can better curate our policies to substantially help the livelihood of those people. Unless we have tangible data, no state government and no central government can actually do targeted interventions and that is what we wanted to do.'
On 30 April, the Centre had announced that caste enumeration would be included in the next population census. And on Monday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a notification saying that the next census will be held in 2027.
While the Congress has questioned the absence of the term census in the notification, the Centre has dismissed the contention, pointing out that the MHA has already announced in multiple press statements that caste will be counted as part of the next exercise.
Pilot highlighted the issue even on Tuesday, adding that the allocation of Rs 570 crore for conducting census in the annual budget also raises questions on the Centre's intentions.
'Given the BJP government's track record of backtracking, use of distraction tactics in times of its failures and its affinity to hypocrisy, we won't be surprised if it quietly shelves the caste census once again. Also, while the census would cost about Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 crore, the government had allocated a meagre Rs 570 crore for the purpose, which clearly shows its intentions,' he alleged.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Manish Tewari on Congress's Narender Surrender jibe—'nature of politics, back-channel talks nothing new'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
26 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Reddy a fearless champion of equality': Mallikarjun Kharge introduces V-P candidate to Opp leaders
Calling upon every MP to support former SC judge B Sudershan Reddy for the Vice President's post, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said his nomination stood as the Opposition's firm commitment to restoring steadily declining 'fairness, impartiality, and dignity to the functioning of the Rajya Sabha'. Reddy, who will be the joint Opposition candidate, was formally introduced to senior leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Sharad Pawar among others, at a meeting in the Central Hall of Parliament on Wednesday. At a time when the integrity of India's democratic institutions was 'facing unprecedented challenges', Kharge said Justice Reddy's contest against NDA's C P Radhakrishnan was 'an ideological battle for the soul of our nation'. 'This Vice-Presidential election is not merely a contest for an office; it is an ideological battle for the soul of our nation. While the ruling party has chosen the ideology of RSS, we uphold the Constitution and its values as our guiding light,' he said on the eve of the last day of filing nominations for the polls scheduled on September 9. Terming him a 'towering figure in Indian jurisprudence', Justice Reddy, Kharge said, was 'renowned for his unwavering commitment to justice' and had been a fearless champion of social, economic, and political equality, delivering landmark judgments that have 'strengthened the fabric of our democracy'. Referring to the three Bills introduced by Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament on Wednesday, he said, 'Constitutional Amendment Bills that undermine the core values of parliamentary democracy and federalism are being introduced in subterfuge at the fag end of the session, leaving no scope for meaningful debate or scrutiny.' 'Over the last 11 years, we have witnessed the blatant misuse of parliamentary majority to arm the autonomous agencies like ED, I-T, and CBI with draconian powers to target Opposition leaders. Now, these new Bills are set to become instruments in the hands of the ruling party to further undermine and destabilise democratically elected governments in the states,' he added.
Hindustan Times
26 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Campus surveillance, cyber awareness among key focus areas at VCs' conference with WB Guv
Kolkata, Campus security, tribal student welfare, and higher education reforms took centre-stage at the vice chancellors' conference chaired by West Bengal Governor and Chancellor C V Ananda Bose at Raj Bhavan, an official said on Wednesday. Campus surveillance, cyber awareness among key focus areas at VCs' conference with WB Guv Several measures were proposed for fast-track implementation across universities in West Bengal, he said. One of the key decisions taken in the meeting held on Tuesday at the Raj Bhavan here was the introduction of AI-powered surveillance systems, including facial recognition technology, to monitor and record the movement of individuals on university campuses, he said. "The move is aimed at strengthening campus security and addressing incidents of ragging," he said, adding that the implementation of these measures would be reviewed periodically to ensure accountability and results. The meeting also discussed the establishment of one school for the Scheduled Tribes in every university to assist and support tribal students academically and socially. In another welfare-oriented initiative, universities have been asked to introduce dedicated helpline numbers for migrant workers, with coordination mechanisms involving universities in other states to provide reciprocal support. "The decisions were part of a larger push to modernise and streamline university functioning in line with national education reforms and growing social needs," the official said. Among the other key proposals agreed upon for implementation were improving accreditation and assessment systems in both universities and affiliated colleges, he said. Other proposals were launching a state-wide awareness campaign against youth drug addiction, conducting a comprehensive audit of manpower, including sanctioned, filled, and vacant posts, the bureaucrat said. It also recommended promoting digital transactions across university departments and administration, encouraging natural farming practices among women, especially in the three state agricultural universities, he stated. Besides, reviewing the rollout of the New Education Policy 2020 and creating awareness about the three new criminal laws introduced by the Centre were also suggested at the meeting. "Ensuring a transparent appointment process for university faculty and staffers and developing green campuses, promoting energy efficiency, and exploring the use of non-conventional energy sources were also stressed upon," he said. The conference was attended by vice chancellors from several universities. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
26 minutes ago
- Business Standard
FM Sitharaman briefs GST GoMs on need for sweeping tax reforms
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday presented to GoMs from states her government's plans for sweeping reforms in the GST regime that involves slashing tax rates and easing compliance burden for businesses. The GoMs on rate rationalisation, insurance taxation and compensation cess will over two days deliberate on the Centre's 'next-gen' GST reforms under which tax will be levied at 5 and 18 per cent rates. A special 40 per cent rate has been proposed on 5-7 items, including sin goods. GST is currently levied at 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. While food and essential items are either at nil or 5 per cent rate, luxury and demerit goods are in 28 per cent slab, with a cess on top of it. The finance minister's address to the GoMs was for about 20 minutes during which she elaborated on the Centre's proposal, a source said. She explained the necessity for GST reforms to the states, the source added. The group of ministers (GoM) on compensation cess was set up to decide on the future of compensation cess post the loan repayment period. Besides, the GoM on insurance was deliberating on reducing tax rates on health and life insurance premium. The rate rationalisation GoM was mandated to suggest changes in slabs and rates and also remove duty inversion faced by certain sectors. The GoM on GST rate rationalisation is scheduled to meet again on August 21. As per an SBI Research report, the proposal, if implemented, could result in revenue loss of about Rs 85,000 crore a year. For the current fiscal, the loss to revenue is estimated at Rs 45,000 crore assuming the new tax rates are implemented from October 1. The Centre's proposal once approved by the GoMs will be placed before the GST Council, comprising ministers from Centre and all states, in its meeting next month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced rollout of the GST reforms by Diwali. The SBI Research report estimated that the effective weighted average GST rate came down from 14.4 per cent at the time of inception to 11.6 per cent in September 2019. Given the current rationalisation of rates, the effective weighted average GST rate may be 9.5 per cent.
