LS adjourned over caste-based census

The Lok Sabha was today adjourned till noon over protests against the government's approval to caste enumeration in the census only at the biometric stage.

The Lok Sabha was on Thursday adjourned till noon over protests against the government's approval to caste enumeration in the census only at the biometric stage.

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Samajwadi Party member Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal refused to let the Question Hour commence after the house assembled for the day's proceedings.

They claimed that the government was trying to delay the issue of caste census by only allowing it to be included at the biometric stage, which begins December.

A Group of Ministers, chaired by Pranab Mukherjee, on Wednesday unanimously agreed to allow caste enumeration in the census at the biometric stage. The decision is expected to be placed before the next cabinet meeting.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the house till noon after disruptions.

The biometric phase will include photographing, fingerprinting and iris mapping of citizens for the National Population Register (NPR).