New Delhi, 18 August (H.S.):

Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh has questioned the Central government over the caste census, asking why the Census 2027 exercise does not provide an option list when the Narendra Modi government had itself told the Supreme Court in 2021 that such a list was necessary to collect reliable and uniform caste data.

Ramesh said on Tuesday in a post on the social media platform X that the Modi government had filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court on September 21, 2021, opposing the demand for a caste census. However, in paragraph 12(d) of the affidavit, the government had stated that providing a list of options for selecting castes would be preferable for preparing a caste registry. According to him, such an approach could help in collecting reliable and uniform data.

The Congress leader questioned why the provision had not been incorporated into Census 2027 when the government itself had acknowledged before the Supreme Court in 2021 that an option list was needed to ensure the collection of consistent and credible caste data.

He said similar option lists had been prepared before the caste surveys conducted in Bihar and Telangana. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had also suggested providing such a list in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 5.

Ramesh alleged that the Central government was not serious about conducting a caste census and wanted to prevent it from taking place. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had changed his earlier position by announcing on April 30, 2025, that a caste census would be conducted.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar