“Modi Govt wants to put caste census in cold storage…”: Congress’ Jairam Ramesh

New India [India], April 12 (ANI): Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday hit out at the Narendra Modi government for allegedly trying to put the caste-based census in cold storage.
He also flagged irregularities in its stance on the issue over the past years.
In an X post, the Congress leader outlined that the government denied the caste census in 2021 except for the enumeration of Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe communities by filing an affidavit in the apex court. He noted that the Modi government even accused Congress of having a "naxal mindset" for wanting a caste census.
"It is clear that the Modi Govt wants to put the caste census in cold storage. On July 20 2021, it answered a question in the Lok Sabha saying that the "Govt of India decided as a matter of policy NOT to enumerate caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in Census. On Sept 21 2021, the Modi Govt filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court that it has taken a conscious policy decision not to conduct a caste census. On April 28, 2024, in a television interview, the Prime Minister accused the Congress of having an urban naxal mindset for championing the cause of a caste census. On April 30 2025, as the country was still in shock after the Pahalgam terror attack that occurred a few days earlier, the Modi Govt suddenly announced that the caste census would be conducted as a part of the upcoming census," he wrote on X.
Further, Ramesh recalled a 2025 press conference where the Registrar-General and Census Commissioner said that most of the results of the ongoing Census 2027 will only be available in 2027 as the census is being conducted online.
"In a widely-reported press conference on March 30 2025, the Registrar-General and Census Commissioner said that most of the results of the ongoing Census 2027 would be available in 2027 itself since the entire census is being conducted digitally," he said.
He further criticised the Modi government for trying to amend Article 334-A, saying that the caste census will be available in 2027, even though Telangana and Bihar have completed the survey in less than six months
Ramesh accused PM Modi of misleading the country, citing a hidden agenda of not having a caste-based census to undermine his attempts to amend the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam passed by the Parliament in 2023.
"The Prime Minister is, as usual, misleading the country and engaging in massive deception. He now wants to amend what the Parliament had unanimously passed in September 2023. The hidden agenda is simply NOT to have the caste census," he concluded.
Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 seeks to reserve one-third of the total number of seats for women in Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and Delhi Assembly. (ANI)