'The Congress is trying to reinvent itself -- the caste census demand, OBC emphasis, the anti-corporate thrust, especially on Adani etc -- all this is not standard Congress strategy.'
'I realise that in some ways the Census is a peephole into a changing India. It's not just about transgenders or the disabled. This time marital status includes separate categories for divorced and separated. Mental illness has been separated from mental retardation. For the first time, the census taker is asking for the date of birth.'
On May 11 we launched our campaign against caste in census 2011 and responses from readers have been pouring in. While some merely clicked the 'I am against the caste census' button, others were more vocal. We present what our readers had to say.
The caste census would be carried out by the government between June and September next year, Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Friday.
Bowing to demands by several political parties, government on Tuesday said it has decided to include caste in census and the formality of endorsing it is expected at the next Cabinet meeting.
'The linking of Aadhaar to births and deaths will revive the debate around citizenship.'
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has opposed caste-based census, saying it would lead to caste based discrimination and strengthen casteist forces.
Separatist leader and Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (G) Syed Ali Geelani has urged people to actively participate in the Census to put an end to the much-talked about demographic supremacy of a particular community, the daily Rising Kashmir has reported.
Indian diaspora is the largest ethnic group in the UK and Hinduism with 1.5 per cent of the population is the third most popular religion in the country, the latest census indicated on Tuesday.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad demanded that the inclusion of caste in census be approved in the next Parliament session itself to benefit backward communities. "I request Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure the inclusion of caste in census is cleared in the next Parliament session. If there is a delay, there will be a revolution at the national level by the people."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while being enumerated for Census 2011 last week, said the data from this massive exercise would be a treasure house of information to help the government plan development work.
'Someone who cannot even take his cabinet into confidence, how will he take the NDA alliance into confidence?'
The Madras high court on Thursday issued a fresh direction to the Centre to conduct caste-wise census in the country. Allowing a PIL by lawyer R Krishnamoorthy, a division bench on Wednesday directed the Census commissioner to take all steps to hold caste-wise enumeration. The bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice T S Sivagnanam said the relief sought by the petitioner had already been answered in the affirmative by the court in an earlier verdict
Professor P Radhakrishnan is a social scientist talks about the dangers of including caste in the census.
Party's chief spokesperson K C Tyagi said Kumar has agreed to take over the mantle from Lalan Singh.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday claimed that contrary to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's "false propaganda" that the population of Muslim community was increasing in the country, the number of the minority community members vis-a-vis Hindus was fast declining, and added that he could prove it.
'The 4th meeting of the leaders of INDIA parties will be held on Tuesday December 19th, 2023 in New Delhi at 3 pm,' Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X on Sunday.
Right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.
For the first time, census of tigers and other predators in Karnataka which begins on January 16, will cover the entire forest area going beyond the national parks and sanctuaries.
'This is going to generate a new debate on reservation because the quota for Economically Weaker Sections is 10%, and that is for nearly 16% of the population.' 'For 16% you are giving 10%. This is set to raise eyebrows among the OBCs after the caste survey.'
The Vishwaguru who addressed the maximum rallies and boasted of being blessed with divine energy, who promised guarantees in his own name, turned out finally not invincible, points out Jyoti Punwani.
Delhi Police's Special Cell Tuesday morning conducted raids at 30 premises connected with online portal NewsClick as well as its journalists' houses, triggering outrage against the action among scribes.
After successfully completing India's census project for 2001, CMC Ltd is all geared up to bid for similar projects across the world including in the US, and also plans to hire about 500 professionals in the current financial year.
Leaders and members of the Hindu community rue the fact that they are not given proper representation and many are not even registered as voters.
'They fear their caste privilege will be exposed if there is an OBC caste census.'
The Congress on Sunday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 'redistribution of wealth' remarks targeting the party, saying after facing 'disappointment' in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, the PM has now resorted to 'lies' and 'hate speech' to divert people from the real issues.
In the Muslim community, views on this Lok Sabha election seem to vary, with some seeing it as crucial for India's pluralism while others feel neglected by political parties.
Nearly 70 per cent of the country's population lives in rural areas where, for the first time since independence, the overall growth rate of population has sharply declined, according to the latest Census.
The nation's official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 per cent, up from 14.3 per cent in 2009.
The Met department blamed the malfunctioning of sensors kept at the Automated Weather Station for the gaffe.
'There is ample evidence to suggest that attacks on the PM's probity and his connections with business houses do not resonate with voters.'
There's a lot of positive news in the population census findings, says C Chakravarty, consultant registrar general
The percentage of households who live on less than Rs 6,000 a month or less than Rs 200 a day among the Scheduled tribe households (42.91 per cent) was almost the same as among scheduled caste households (42.78 per cent).
Initiating the debate on the bill from the opposition's side, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said that any delay in bringing the reservation into effect would be "gross injustice" to Indian women.
The NCP leader asked how suddenly a number of records showing Marathas as belonging to the Kunbi caste were being found.
A majority (61 per cent) of foreign born with engineering degrees were born in Asia, including 22 per cent, who were born in India, and 13 per cent who were born in China, the report said on Thursday.
Estimates say finances to go 268% more than Plan allocation.
Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
Faced with a challenge to his traditional Other Backward Class-Muslim vote base from the ruling National Democratic Alliance in poll-bound Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad appears to be making inclusion of caste in census and opposition to women's reservation bill his major planks to woo the electorate.Strongly pitching for incorporating caste in census, he said opposing it could spark a 'mass agitation'.
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