Congress bats for national caste census

New Delhi: The Congress has welcomed the release of caste census in Bihar and called upon the Centre to immediately conduct a similar exercise at the national level to ensure social justice and provide a firm foundation for social empowerment programmes.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the caste census of Bihar has proved that 84 per cent of the people in the state are OBCs, SCs and STs and their share should be according to their population.

"Out of 90 secretaries of the Central government, only 3 are OBC, who handle only 5 per cent of India's budget. Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics of India…," Gandhi said in a post on X. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the UPA government led by the Congress had conducted a census but its results were not published by the Modi government.

If the Modi government does not carry out a caste census, it will be conducted as soon as the Congress government is formed so that every section can get their right, the Opposition party said.

The Congress also said in a post on X that the figures of the caste-based census in Bihar are indicative of the share of various classes in society.