Editor Mr.Mayank Rawat ( Chief Editor Mr. Rohit Mishra )
NEW DELHI: The Congress Working Committee (CWC) has ramped up its demand for the immediate implementation of the legislation, alongside Article 15(5) to extend reservation to OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis in private educational institutions.
In a directive issued on Friday, AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K.C Venugopal detailed the Congress party’s roadmap to ensure that the caste census is not delayed under any bureaucratic pretext.
The instructions are part of the party’s campaign during the ongoing Samvidhan Bachao rallies, which will continue till May 30 across all states and districts.
Venugopal noted that this legislative step is a result of “sustained and principled pressure” by the Congress, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge having formally written to the Prime Minister reiterating the demand. Rahul Gandhi, he said, had been the most consistent voice advocating the caste census as a prerequisite for ensuring true social justice.
CWC’s key demands:
- Immediate implementation of Article 15(5) to extend reservation for OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis in private educational institutions.
- Timely and transparent rollout of the caste census, without bureaucratic delays.
- Time-bound execution with immediate parliamentary debate and full budgetary backing.
- Inclusive design of the enumeration process, with transparency in questionnaire framing, classification, and data release.
- Use of the caste data to improve reservation policies, education access, employment schemes, and targeted welfare programs.
- At its May 2 meeting chaired by Kharge, the CWC also adopted a resolution demanding accountability and urgency in implementing the newly passed caste census legislation.
The resolution underscored the need for mobilising people at the grassroots to support the move.
Caste census
In a significant reversal of its earlier stance, the Centre on April 30 announced that a nationwide caste-based count will be carried out alongside the upcoming population census. The move marks a major policy shift after years of rejecting opposition demands for such an enumeration.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while announcing the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs’ decision, said the Centre had taken note of the caste-based surveys recently conducted by several opposition-ruled states. These state-level efforts, he claimed, were politically motivated and lacked transparency, leading to confusion and mistrust in society.
“Census is a constitutional responsibility of the Union government. However, some states have attempted caste enumeration through surveys that were neither consistent nor transparent,” Vaishnaw said.
To avoid further division and politicisation, the government has decided to formally include caste data collection in the national census to ensure accuracy and maintain social harmony, he added.
Mayank Rawat
