Bihar CM Nitish Kumar bats for caste census, says will hold all-party meeting soon

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar`s remark comes after the Centre in an affidavit in the Supreme Court ruled out caste census.

New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister on Sunday (September 26) said that caste census is a ‘legitimate’ demand and he will hold an all-party meeting in the state over the issue. 

The Bihar CM said caste census is ‘pro-development’ and ‘need of the hour’. He added, “Caste census is a legitimate demand and is the need of the hour. It is pro-development and will help policymakers frame targetted welfare policies for backward castes. Caste census must take place. We'll hold an all-party meeting over this matter in Bihar.” 

Kumar’s remark comes after the Centre on Thursday in an affidavit in the Supreme Court ruled out caste census. The Centre told the apex court that caste census of backward classes is "administratively difficult and cumbersome" and excluding such information from the purview of Census is a "conscious policy decision."

Earlier, an all-party delegation from Bihar, which was led by Nitish Kumar, had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking caste census.

In an affidavit filed in the apex court, the government said that caste enumeration in Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011 was fraught with mistakes and inaccuracies.

Meanwhile, leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly Tejashwi Yadav wrote a letter to 33 top leaders of the country on the issue of a caste-based census following Modi’s government’s refusal to carry out caste census, as per IANS report. 

Yadav wrote, "The central government has opted for a negative approach on caste based census. It is necessary in the country for the overall development of the person sitting in the last line of the society. BJP does not have a single logical reason for why it is against the caste based census."

The RJD leader sent the letter to leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Parkash Singh Badal, Arvind Kejriwal, Sharad Pawar, Om Prakash Chautala, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, MK Stalin, Farooq Abdullah, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Hemant Soren, Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray, K Chandrasekhar Rao, Ashok Gehlot, Charanjeet Singh Channi, O Panneerselvam, Chandrashekhar Azad, Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, Sitaram Yechuri, D Raja, Naveen Patnaik, Nitish Kumar, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Mukesh Sahani, Chirag Paswan, Om Prakash Rajveer, Akhtarul Imam, Jayant Chaudhary, Maulana Badruddin, P Vijayan, Bhupesh Baghel and Mehbooba Mufti.

(With agency inputs)