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Tag: Bihar caste census

  • Caste-based census in Bihar soon as all-party meet gives nod to exercise

    Express News Service

    PATNA: Decks have been cleared for the caste-based census in Bihar following a meeting of all political parties on Wednesday. 

    Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the caste-based census would be conducted within a time frame.

    Talking to the media after the all-party meeting, Nitish said that a proposal to conduct the caste-based census in the state will be presented in the meeting of the state cabinet soon for its approval. “Everything related to the census will be done within a limited period,” he added.

    The census will cover all castes, sub-castes and religions. To make it foolproof, the government will ensure proper training of the personnel assigned the arduous task. “The government will ensure that nobody is left out of it,” Nitish pointed out.

    The meeting was attended by nine political parties — BJP, JDU, RJD, Congress, CPI-ML (Liberation), CPI, HAM and AIMIM and VIP. CM Nitish, his deputy Tarksihore Prasad, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Congress legislature party leader Ajeet Sharma and HAM chief Jitan Ram Manjhi were among others present at the meeting.

    Nitish said that the leaders of all political parties took a unanimous decision to conduct the caste-based census. The census will be done with the resources of the state government. The government will arrange funds for the purpose.

    To a query, Nitish said that the all-party meeting was delayed due to elections. “Earlier, we had demanded from the centre to conduct a caste-based census at the national level. Even a delegation had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue last year,” he asserted.

    Later, it was decided that the census will be conducted by the state government. “Everything related to the caste-based census will be put in the public domain so that people could get information about the census,” Nitish clarified. 

  • Undeterred by BJP’s objections, CM Nitish says caste census work in Bihar to begin soon

    Express News Service

    PATNA: Setting aside the BJP’s objections, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday asserted that it would not take long before the process for a caste census in Bihar was put into motion.

    Nitish’s remarks came in the presence of deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad of the BJP who was taken aback as the demand had already been turned down by the top leadership of the saffron party at the Centre.

    Talking to the media after paying floral tributes to Gautam Buddha, Nitish said that he had even apprised leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav of the state government’s plan to start work on the caste census shortly when the latter had called on him last week to press the long-pending demand.

    In response to a query, the Chief Minister said that an all-party meeting would be convened soon and opinions of the leaders of various political parties sought on the matter. The all-party meet will be followed by cabinet approval on the proposal for holding a caste census, he added.

    ALSO READ: Chirag smells a rat in Nitish-Tejashwi meets, says another political volte-face possible in Bihar

    Nitish pointed out that the modalities like the number of officials needed for the caste census exercise would also be decided. A date for initiating the caste census process will be announced after all parties reached a consensus on theissue, he disclosed.

    Referring to the delay in starting the process, the Chief Minister said that the all-party meeting could not be held earlier due to busy schedule and involvement of people in elections, Covid19 pandemic management and other important engagements.

    Meanwhile, former JDU Rajya Sabha member Ali Anwar said that Muslims should be treated separately in the caste census in the state. “BJP was against the caste census even when it was necessary for formulating concrete and effective policies for taking social justice to the next level,” he added.

    The government was using caste data collected during the 1931 census. Anwar said that the Mandal commission had recommended the caste census, but it could not be done for reasons best known to the authorities concerned.

    Earlier, senior BJP leader and state agriculture minister Amrendra Pratap Singh had apparently caused some embarrassment to Nitish by saying that there was no need to conduct a caste census in the state.

    On the other hand, senior BJP leader and state spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel contended that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was giving thought to the issue of caste census in a comprehensive manner so that it could be conducted in the entire country.

    Patel said that leaders of all political parties in Bihar should have faith in the Prime Minister. Earlier, Nitish had given an assurance to Tejashwi Prasad Yadav that an all-party meet would be convened at the earliest to hold discussions on the issue of caste count.

    Both Nitish and Tejashwi had a one-on-one meeting for nearly 45 minutes, creating speculation on whether the RJD and Nitish’s JDU are planning to spring another political surprise in the state.

  • ‘No census in Bihar till caste count’, threatens RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav

    Express News Service

    PATNA: Bihar’s main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has threatened not to allow any census in the state unless head count of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) was conducted in the state along with those from the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribes.

    Raising the old demand of caste based census in the state, RJD’s defacto supremo accused the BJP of having mindset of ‘anti-social justice’ and blamed Union MoS Home Nityanand Rai and the saffron party for ignoring the unanimous demand of the state’s political parties.

    He alleged that the BJP displayed an ‘anti-social justice’ mindset by getting Union Minister Nityanand Rai, incidentally an OBC from Bihar, to give a written statement in the parliament that the government will not take up a head count of social groups other than Dalits and Tribals in Bihar.

    “The proposal was sent to the centre after passed by both Houses of the state legislature twice. But Rai in his written reply expressed the centre’s inability to concede the demand of caste census in Bihar,” he added.

    Nityanand Rai, the BJP MP from Ujiyarpur Lok Sabha constituency, is being projected as one of the front runners of probable contenders for the chief minister’s post in the case BJP was given an opportunity after Nitish’s exit.

    Moreover, Rai belongs to the same Yadav community, which RJD’s chief ministerial candidate belonged to.

    Taking a swipe at CM Nitish Kumar, the RJD leader said that Nitish had in February this year said that the process would be initiated after holding deliberations with senior leaders of all political parties. However, the matter was thrown to the cold storage, he added.

    He said the CM had agreed to conduct the caste census from its own resources after formal denial  by the union government. Both BJP and JDU strongly countered the RJD’s allegation and said that he should know the nuances of the contentious issue.

    BJP leader and agriculture minister Amrendra Pratap Singh said Tejashwi lacked proper information. “Nityanand Rai has nothing to do with the caste based census,” the BJP minister said. “This is not a simple issue, which can be taken so lightly. It needs a good deal of exercise. There is no doubt when Nitish Kumar has made it clear that the caste census will be done in the state. He should have patience,” JDU MLC Neeraj Kumar said.

  • BJP not averse to conducting caste census in Bihar, says Sushil Kumar Modi

    Express News Service

    PATNA: The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) appears to have decided to give second thought to conducting of caste enumeration through national census amid mounting  pressure from various parties

    Bihar BJP senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi on Sunday made it clear that the BJP is not averse to the caste Census. Sushil Modi’s comments come a day before a 11-member all-party delegation from Bihar led by CM Nitish Kumar, is supposed to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 23.

    Taking to Twitter, Sushil Kumar Modi said that the BJP has never been against caste census and that is why it was part of the resolution passed in the Legislative assembly and Legislative Council earlier.

    Sushil Kumar Modi was the deputy chief minister in the previous NDA government and has been involved in the decision-making exercises of party’s policies with the central leadership of party. He is also one of the most learned and experienced leaders of the party.

    “The state BJP is also part of the Bihar delegation scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Be it known that BJP leader Gopinath Munde had presented the party’s side in the Parliament in support of the Caste Census in 2011”, Modi said. He also made it almost clear that the BJP is in support of the caste census in principle.

    Modi said, “There are many technical and practical difficulties in conducting caste Census, yet the BJP is in support of it in principle”.

    Sharing details on the issue, Modi further said that the last census on caste was conducted in 1931 under the British rule when Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha were not separated.

    “The Census of only 22 castes was conducted for a population of about 1 crore of Bihar at that time. Now, much water has flown into the Ganga after 90 years, there has been a difference in the economic, social, geographical and political conditions”, Modi stated through a tweet.

    Local political experts opined that the BJP is left with no other option but to take a pro stand over the Caste census in view of the forthcoming assembly elections in UP and other states.