LUCKNOW On the lines of Bihar, the Uttar Pradesh government should also conduct a caste census in the state, said Santosh Kumar Kushwaha, Janata Dal (United) leader and Lok Sabha MP from Purnia (Bihar). The leader also staged a day-long sit-in protest at the Manyavar Kanshiram Eco-Garden in Lucknow to push the demand. He was accompanied by party member and Bihar legislative council member Ravindra Prasad Singh.
“The Bihar government -- led by chief minister Nitish Kumar -- is conducting the caste census with its own resources. The BJP governments at the Centre and in U.P. are not interested in the exercise which can help welfare programmes for SCs, STs, and OBCs. The BJP government in U.P. is also hatching a conspiracy to end the OBC reservation in the local body elections. JD(U) will strongly oppose this,” said Anoop Singh Patel, president of JD(U)’s U.P. unit.
In a similar vein, MP Kushwaha said, “Marginalised communities make up for an estimated 52% of the country’s population, according to the caste census conducted in 1931. However, a fresh census has not been conducted since which is why the benefits of welfare schemes don’t reach a large section of the marginalised communities, particularly SCs, STs, and OBCs.”