Necessary to conduct caste census with decadal headcount, says Mallikarjun Kharge
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also highlighted the need for a central law for the SC/ST sub-plan and guarantee budgetary allocations in accordance with their population
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday criticised the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for failing to uphold the values of Babasaheb Dr BR Ambedkar.
Speaking on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti, Kharge, on behalf of his party, outlined five demands for the ruling dispensation.
“First of all, I want to say that caste census is necessary,” Kharge wrote in a post on his official X (formerly Twitter) account.
“Right now the central government is making its plans on the data of 2011 census. The census to be held in 2021 is not known yet. We demand that along with the General Census, it is also necessary to conduct the Caste Census. Because after so many years, it is not known what is the actual condition of different sections of society today”, he wrote.
He also highlighted the demand that the central government should re-implement the SC-ST sub-plan.
“Our Karnataka and Telangana state governments have made laws to implement the sub-plan. We demand from the BJP government that the central government should re-implement the SC-ST sub-plan”, he posted.
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Kharge also pushed for the need to remove the 50% cap on reservations.
“There is no state except Tamil Nadu where reservation is secured. We demand that the reservations of states be included in Schedule 9 so that the reservations of states can be secured by removing the ceiling of 50%”, he wrote.
The Congress president wanted reservation in private educational institutions.
“Amendment made in 2006 To provide reservation to SC, ST, OBC in private colleges by amending the Constitution in Art. 15 (5), this law was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2014. Today 55% of Higher Education Institutions are in private hands. How will our children study?”, he said.
Kharge said that when the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed two years ago, the party wanted it to be implemented immediately.
“When the women’s reservation bill was passed two years ago, the Congress Party had demanded that the Act be implemented immediately and at the same time, one-third reservation under it should be ensured for SC, ST and OBC women”, he said.
A response from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson is awaited and the copy will be updated whenever it is received.
