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Prepare own format for caste, religion census in J’khand: MLA to Hemant govt
Batting for religious census, Tirkey said that there have been demands of a separate religion census as well like Sarna
Mandar legislator and former minister Bandhu Tirkey on Friday demanded the Hemant Soren government to consider conducting caste and religious census on the lines of the proposals being mooted by various political parties, including the JD(U) and RJD in neighbouring Bihar.
Tirkey, who joined Congress after a split in JVM (P) after 2019 assembly polls, was speaking to media persons during a press conference at his residence in Ranchi.
He argued that the state government should come up with its own format for holding caste and religious census.
“The state has now got the powers after the Lok Sabha passed the 127th constitutional amendment to identify OBC groups. But, what will it amount to if we don’t know the exact numbers of caste sub-groups? There are several sub-castes even in tribals and Muslims. We need to ascertain their numbers,” said Tirkey.
Batting for religious census, Tirkey said that there have been demands of a separate religion census as well like Sarna. “By including religion in the new format, we will also be able to know how many among tribals are followers of Sarna, Christianity or any other faith,” he said.
Granting a separate Sarna tribal religious code in Census 2021 census has been a long pending demand in the state.
A unanimous resolution to this effect was passed by the Jharkhand assembly last year, demanding the Centre to include Sarna Tribal religious code in the religion column in Census 2021, arguing that majority of tribals, who have not converted to Christianity, are otherwise forced to select ‘Others’ column in the census.
