Whatever has gone wrong with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s inclusivity? I wrote a few days ago, ‘Is Nitish ready for a somersault?’ His recent movements point in that direction. The wily politician has joined hands with RJD chief Tejaswi Yadav to go to Delhi, demanding PM Modi do a Caste Census. Yes, you read it right. They are demanding a Caste Census!
Nitish is not alone; the former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi has raised the demand, and Mamata has consented if both the Centre and State agree to conduct a Census on a caste basis. The Government of India has been doing an SC/ST Census and not for the OBCs. In addition, Ramdas Athawale, another union minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and Pankaja Munde from the BJP also has demanded such a Census.
The past Censuses revealed the SC/ST data from 1951 until 2011 but not on castes, which was stopped in 1931. Mandal Commission’s estimation of 52% OBCs is debatable. The demand for Caste Census is made before every Census survey to identify the deprived sections.
A writ petition is pending in the Supreme Court, seeking to order the Government to conduct a Caste-based Census with the 2021 Census. The present BJP government may be disinclined to do a caste-based survey other than SC/STs. The UPA government constituted a Group of Ministers under the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to do a Socio-Economic Caste Census(SECC). The SECC data was published in 2016, which, however, was not made public.
India must come out of the caste demon, which will continue to fatten the purses of the politicians. Help must be provided for all the deprived poor, regardless of their caste or religion. Caste took a back seat when we were fighting the British. Every Indian dreamt of a Utopia, India flourished, and all Indians prospered. Unfortunately, the dream has not materialised. The UN estimates that 364 million people, or 28% of Indians, live below poverty lines.
A few states’ demands for Caste Census is to redraw their battle plans by fielding caste-related candidates in the coming elections. Perhaps, the opposition parties are apprehensive of a post-Covid growth era, when the sufferings of the migrants and the Covid mismanagement will be forgotten. The increased procurement of crops also has dented the farmers’ protest. Psephologists are cautious about UP, which makes the return of Yogi and BJP a possibility. I must add the fear of the Taliban on our borders will make India look up at Modi rather than any other existing leader from other parties.
So, back to the time tested gangrene, caste-wars!
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
In pic: a manual scavenger by caste, but laws have abolished the profession.
