New Delhi: The Congress Monday mentioned that the formulation of a query to be requested in the course of the first part of the census has forged doubt on the Centre’s announcement that caste would even be counted underneath the two-phase train beginning on 1 April.

In a press release, Congress common secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh demanded that the federal government provoke a dialogue with the political class and civil society to finalise the roadmap for the caste enumeration train to be carried out within the second part of the census.

He identified that the query seeks info on whether or not the pinnacle of a family belongs to “Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Different” classes, quite than explicitly asking about “OBC and Basic classes”.

“The Indian Nationwide Congress now calls upon the Modi authorities to right away provoke a dialogue with political events, state governments, and civil society organisations earlier than finalising the main points of the caste enumeration train,” Ramesh mentioned.

He basically instructed that if the caste standing of family heads was to be ascertained within the first part, then OBCs and ahead castes as classes may even have been enumerated alongside SCs and STs.

The 33 inquiries to be posed in the course of the first part of the census had been notified by the federal government on 22 January. Samajwadi Occasion chief Akhilesh Yadav has additionally questioned the federal government’s dedication, elevating the same concern.

“There isn’t even a column for caste within the census notification. What’s going to they rely? A caste-based census is simply one other BJP gimmick. The BJP’s simple formulation is: no counting, no demographic foundation for proportional reservation or rights,” Yadav posted on X on 24 January.

The federal government had earlier introduced that the following decadal census, being carried out after a delay of six years, would additionally seize caste information electronically in the course of the inhabitants enumeration, or the second part.

The choice was taken by the Cupboard Committee on Political Affairs on 30 April final 12 months. Nevertheless, the federal government has not but introduced the methodology for use for finishing up the second part.

The Congress additionally reiterated its demand that the Centre draw on the expertise of its personal authorities in Telangana, which performed the 2025 Social, Academic, Financial, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) survey, whereas designing the framework for the decadal census.

“Such consultations had been an integral a part of the SEEEPC survey carried out by the Telangana authorities in 2025, which stays probably the most complete and significant method to collect very important caste-wise info on schooling, employment, revenue, and political engagement, all of that are important for guaranteeing higher financial and social justice,” Ramesh mentioned.

(Edited by Varnika Dhawan)

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