Nitish calls all-party meet on caste census this week
PATNA: An all-party meeting on the state-specific caste census could be held later this week, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday, although there is some confusion over the date.
Former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday claimed to have received a call “seeking his consent for May 27”.
“Many parties have agreed to the date (May 27). But we must have consent of all parties for holding the meeting on any particular date,” Kumar said on the sidelines of a function in the state capital. State’s education minister and JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Chowdhary also said no date has been finalised yet.
The chief minister expressed confidence that all parties in the state will back the proposed move to hold caste census before it is cleared by the cabinet. “There should be no problem since both houses of legislature in the state have twice passed resolutions favouring a caste census,” said Kumar.
In the past two weeks, the issue of holding a census of castes in the state has triggered a political uproar. On May 10, leader of opposition in assembly and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav threatened to hold a foot march from Patna to Delhi in case the caste census was not conducted. Yadav and Kumar held a closed door meeting on the issue on May 11, after which it was announced that an all-party meeting would be held to discuss all parameters related to the census. The RJD and the JD(U) have been demanding a caste census for years and the two parties along with the Samajwadi Party, forced the United Progressive Alliance led by the Congress to agree to the demand in 2010.
But the data collected during the last decadal headcount was never processed.after spending years demanding that the caste data be made public, RJD and JD (U) leaders have lately come around to the view that they should try to conduct the exercise at the state level.
These parties have argued that a count of castes last carried out in 1931 will give a correct assessment of how castes are numerically poised and which groups have benefitted the most and the least from quotas based on the Mandal commission recommendations that paved the way for 27% reservation for OBCS in government jobs and educational institutions.
The contentious issue has also created a sharp division within the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), with leaders of Kumar’s JD(U) and Manjhi’s HAM-S blaming ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of stalling the move. On Monday, Manjhi blamed the BJP for not “opening their cards” on the caste census.
BJP leader and deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad said,“soon, we will take a decision. The CM has already announced the all-party meeting.” “The BJP is the biggest advocate of social justice since the starting days of Jana Sangh,” said Bihar BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand. “Do some regional parties think caste census is the panacea for all the evils plaguing Indian society? We are sensible in our approach and pragmatic towards the cause of social justice. We are not directly and strictly opposed to the caste census, but the time frame, complications and preparation are important.”
The BJP, which is in coalition with the JD (U), has supported the demand and was part of the delegation that approached PM Narendra Modi last year to seek a nationwide caste census. But the BJP’S critics in Bihar believe there were many in the party who had their reservations, particularly in view of the possibility of triggering anger among the influential upper castes.