'Without Any Difficulty': Congress Suggests Collecting OBC Data In Population Census Set To Begin In September

As the Narendra Modi government is set to commence the much-delayed population census in September, the Congress has suggested to include the caste-wise data of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) as well.

This is in line with the rhetoric which the Congress has been asserting since last year. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is always seen questioning the representation of OBCs in the government.

Congress also attacked the Modi government for delaying the 2021 census and alleged that due to this, over 12 crore Indians have been denied due benefits under the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.

Referring to the collection of caste-wise data on the population of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that there would not be much difficulty in getting OBC data.

"Without any difficulty, just by adding an extra column, the Census questionnaire can also collect caste-wise data of the OBC population as well," the Congress Rajya Sabha MP post on X.

"This will fulfill the widespread demand for a caste census and will give more solid foundations to affirmative action programmes," he added.

Notably, during the later British rule, the census in India used to include caste census as well. However, it was discontinued in 1951 by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

It now appears to be ironic that the same Congress is demanding a caste census. Similar U-turns have been showcased by Congress since Nehru's time, including the stance on reservations.

While Nehru used to criticise reservations for 'promoting inefficiency and mediocrity.' the Congress party today favours reservations and alleges that the Modi government is trying to end it.

Nonetheless, the census, that was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is set to begin soon and is expected to take around 18 months to complete, with results projected to be released by March 2026, covering a 15-year span.

The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation are overseeing the timeline and execution of the census.