Reiterating the demand for the caste-based census in the country, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said he has not received any response from the Prime Minister's Office regarding the matter and added that the issue is social, not political.
Briefing the mediapersons, the chief minister said, "The demand of the caste census is not just the demand from Bihar but other states also. Our party MPs had written a letter seeking time to meet the Prime Minister. The opposition parties in Bihar also wanted to meet the Prime Minister with us. We had written a letter to the Prime Minister regarding this."
"The letter was received at PMO on August 4. We have not received any reply from the Prime Minister's office yet. We want a caste-based Census and it is our long-standing demand. A caste-based Census will help all castes to get their exact numbers so that policies can be made accordingly. Caste census is in the interest of all. It is for the benefit of the country. It is the job of the central government to take a decision regarding the caste census. If the Prime Minister gives time, we will definitely discuss the issue. It is not a political issue but a social one," added Kumar.
He said a resolution regarding the caste-based census was passed unanimously in Bihar Legislative Assembly as well as the Legislative Council in 2019. A resolution was passed unanimously once again in 2020 in the state Legislative Assembly.
Asked if the Bihar government will conduct the caste census at its own level in case there is no response from the Centre, Kumar said, "Census is conducted for the entire country. Earlier, the caste census was done by Karnataka once... If it is required, then we will discuss the matter with all the parties in Bihar."
Last week, Janata Dal (United) Parliamentary Board President Upendra Kushwaha reiterated the party's stance on demanding a caste-based census by the central government.
Briefing mediapersons, Kushwaha had said, "Caste census is a long-standing demand. The last caste census was in 1931. It is very essential to know the exact number of people of different castes. In 2018, Union Minister Rajnath Singh in the Lok Sabha had said that the caste census will be conducted along with the census in 2021. If there is confusion in this matter now, then it is not good."
( With inputs from ANI )
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