The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday declined to accept the Opposition’s demand for a caste census, adding the States could not conduct the exercise. In the Assembly, the Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Sangram Yadav asked whether the State government had plans for a caste census and thinking of increasing reservation up to 75%.
“Article 246 of the Constitution provides that who will make laws. The right to conduct census rests with the Parliament of India and the State cannot conduct the census. A law has also been made regarding this,” said Minister Surya Pratap Shahi.
Many political parties in Uttar Pradesh, including the SP, Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party and even the BJP’s allies like the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and the Apna Dal (Sonelal) have been pushing for a caste census, describing the issue as an important step towards social justice and to bring the poor, exploited and neglected people of the society into the mainstream.
The SP said, “The BJP is always against the marginalised and deprived caste groups. Our leader Akhilesh ji always argued that caste-based census could alone ensure the development of every section in society. For formulating policies, we need to know the population of every social and caste group,” said SP spokesperson Ameeque Jamei.
