Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday reiterated his demand for a caste-based census in the state at least once, saying it will help in the development and welfare of people in the state.
While speaking to the reporters, Nitish Kumar said, "We have already kept our thoughts about the caste-based census in the House in February 2019 and 2020. The caste-based census must be done at least once."
"Through it, they can gain benefits from schemes. If we know the exact number, we can work towards their betterment", said Nitish Kumar.
On February 17, 2021, Nitish Kumar had voiced the demand for a caste-based census. "I have been demanding a caste-based census for very long. Not just me, I have sent the proposal to the Centre multiple times after getting it approved by the state legislative council and the state legislative assembly," Kumar had said while interacting with media persons.
"A caste-based Census will give a correct figure about the population of each caste. It will facilitate governments take better decisions for the development and welfare of people," Nitish had said.
In a reply, the Union Home Ministry said that raw caste data has been provided to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) for the classification and categorization of the data.
"Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 was conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and the then Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) in rural and urban areas respectively. The SECC 2011 data, excluding the caste data, have been finalized and published by MoRD and HUPA," Home Ministry said.
"The Office of the Registrar General, India had provided logistics and technical support in conducting the SECC-2011. The raw caste data has been provided to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) for the classification and categorization of the data. As informed by MoSJE, there is no proposal to release the caste data at this stage," the Home Ministry had said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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