Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said his party would conduct a "caste census" if elected to power as only such an exercise would ensure the "participation of OBCs, Dalits, tribals and women".
The 16th Census of India in 2026 will treat stable live-in relationships as marriages, according to the self-enumeration portal's FAQ section. The portal provides guidance on various housing and household-related questions for self-enumeration.
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly Tejashwi Yadav on Monday said the caste-based census will help in preparing welfare schemes for people from different sections of society.
KC Tyagi also spoke on special status for Bihar, which has been a demand of the party and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Kumar said after the meeting that all parties from Bihar spoke in one voice on the need for a caste-based census, and asserted that statistics about different castes will help in formulating development schemes effectively as many of them have not benefitted so far in line with their actual population.
Population Foundation of India welcomes the digitisation of the Census but emphasises the need for inclusivity, data security, and addressing the under-reporting of women's contributions.
The Congress on Monday promised that a government led by it will conduct a nationwide caste census and implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies at the earliest, including adequate representation for women belonging to the OBC community.
Census exercise with caste enumeration will be carried out with the reference date of October 1, 2026, in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and of March 1, 2027, in the rest of the country, the Home Ministry announced on Wednesday.
'As soon as the BJP feels they are going to lose power, they will publish the caste census data of 2011 and conduct the caste census of 2021.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who made "number 16" jibe at the treasury benches during his speech in Lok Sabha on Friday on three new bills, refused to elaborate on it in his brief interaction with reporters and said "it is a puzzle" and he "won't tell the answer just like that".
'The reason why they rushed through the bill was they wanted to avoid using the 2026 Census because the 2026 Census by their own decision will be a caste census.' 'The BJP knows that a significant share of the OBCs who will get captured in the census, for the first time after the 1931 Census, are against the BJP. Only a segment of the OBCs are in their favour.' 'So they wanted to avoid the OBC reservation among women, which is a demand of a lot of Opposition parties.'
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said his government will undertake a "socio-economic survey of all castes and communities" in the state, following the Centre's reluctance to conduct a caste census nationally.
Bowing to demands by several political parties, government on Thursday decided to carry out a caste census next year.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday hinted that the much-awaited all-party meeting on a state-specific census of castes could be held later this week.
The government has no proposal at present to release the report of the caste census carried out in 2011, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
A BJP source admitted that a census will inevitably reconfirm the numerical majority of the OBCs. 'That will overturn social equations and consign the upper castes to a twilight zone of marginalisation. The RSS won't accept it.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Addressing a huge rally in Maharashtra's Nagpur on the occasion of the Congress' 139th foundation day, he said unemployment in the country has reached its highest point in the last 40 years.
The caste census would be carried out by the government between June and September next year, Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Friday.
NDA leaders have defended proposed amendments to the Women's Reservation Act and the Delimitation Bill, 2026, arguing women have waited long enough for reservation, while opposition parties allege the process could undermine India's federal and democratic structure, particularly impacting southern states.
The census will be carried out with a reference date of October 1, 2026 in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and March 1, 2027 in the rest of the country, the notification said.
Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) has announced its departure from the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, citing the DMK's 'big brother' attitude and unmet demands.
Rahul Gandhi accuses the government of using the women's reservation bill as a smokescreen to manipulate India's electoral map and diminish representation for certain states.
India has launched digital tools for its upcoming fully digital Census 2027, including mobile apps and a self-enumeration portal, aiming for efficient and accurate data collection.
The demand for a fresh caste census has stirred the political atmosphere in Bihar for some time.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also said that the central government has not enumerated caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in census since Independence.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Indian government has released the list of questions to be asked during the first phase of the Census 2027, focusing on houselisting and housing enumeration. The survey will cover various aspects of housing conditions, household characteristics, and access to basic amenities.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by the Maharashtra government seeking a direction to the Centre and other authorities to disclose to the state the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 raw caste data of the Other Backward Classes.
The Congress will conduct a caste census in Madhya Pradesh after winning the assembly polls and establish a university in the name of Sant Ravidas, said party president Mallikarjun Kharge, accusing the regime at the Centre of wishing to change the Constitution.
The Group of Ministers on caste census on Thursday failed to reach any decision on the politically sensitive issue and decided to meet again.
A bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies by increasing the lower house's strength to 850 is slated for introduction in Parliament. The bill seeks to amend Article 81 of the Constitution and utilise 2011 Census data for redrawing constituencies.
'What is going on is the under counting of the migration population in urban areas.' 'It has been going on in the last few censuses.'
Several opposition parties on Wednesday decided to jointly oppose the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament, even as they reiterated support for women's reservation, with Mallikarjun Kharge alleging the move is politically motivated.
The Congress party in Haryana boycotted a special session of the state assembly, accusing the ruling BJP of using the platform for political propaganda related to a defeated Constitution amendment bill on women's reservation. The BJP criticised the Congress's move as anti-women.
The delimitation of constituencies, which aimed to reduce the influence of minority candidates, is a significant factor in the NDA's strong performance in the Assam elections, where they secured a record 102 seats. The 2023 delimitation exercise redrew constituencies, reserving some Muslim-majority seats for indigenous communities, which increased the BJP and its allies' seat count.
The Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, the first between April and September 2026 and the second in February 2027, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
The much-delayed decadal census exercise and the work to update the National Population Register (NPR) are likely to begin early 2025 and the data will be declared by 2026, thus changing future census cycles completely, official sources said.
Just 4.6 per cent of all rural households in the country pay income tax while such households with salaried income are close to 10 per cent, the first socio economic and caste census released in eight decades said.
'If the Opposition associates itself too much with the minorities, then it becomes easy for the BJP to get Hindu consolidation votes.'
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