Now NDA’s important ally JDU has also joined the opposition in demanding caste census. On Thursday, JDU said that ‘caste based census’ should be included as a topic for discussion in the Parliamentary Committee on Other Backward Classes Welfare. DMK member TR Balu raised this issue in the first meeting of the committee. BJP member Ganesh Singh is the chairman of this committee. Parliament sources said that Congress member Manikam Tagore wanted the committee to list ‘caste based census’ as the first topic for discussion.
TMC member Kalyan Banerjee supported him. Sources said JDU member Girdhari Yadav also wanted ‘caste based census’ to be listed as an issue for discussion by the committee. Kalyan Banerjee demanded that the committee write a letter to the Union Home Ministry on the issue of conducting ‘caste based census’. A BJP member said that recruitments on contract and temporary basis and ad hoc appointments should also be included in the scope of reservation. Let us tell you that till now the BJP has taken a cautious stand on the issue of nationwide caste census.
On the other hand, JDU has been continuously demanding that ‘caste based census’ be conducted across the country. This is also important because JDU, while being in power in Bihar with RJD, had conducted caste-wise census in the state and also released its data. Not only this, a bill to increase reservation in Bihar was also passed after that. Under this, it was decided to increase caste reservation to 65 percent in the state, while the total quota becomes 75 percent with the addition of 10 percent EWS reservation.