Caste-based census: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Tamil Nadu Assembly has passed a resolution urging the Centre to integrate caste-based census with the national decadal census and requested immediate action to initiate the exercise.
Stalin's letter to PM Modi comes hours after the Tamil Nadu Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution urging the Centre to conduct the caste-based census along with the population census.
Census, is a Union subject in Entry-69 of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. The Census operations in the States/UTs are conducted as per the provisions of the Census Act, of 1948. Presently, the caste-wise and tribe-wise data of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes alone are enumerated under the Census Act, 1948.
Stalin's letter to PM Modi
In a letter to PM Modi, the Chief Minister said that caste-based census should be commenced immediately and there is a need for it and he had already written to the Centre on October 20, 2023, seeking integration of decadal census with caste census.
As a developing country, the Chief Minister said, the fruits of development must reach all sections of the society, particularly the most marginalised. "As a developing country, I consider that fruits of development must reach all sections of society, particularly the most marginalised. For framing policies and targeting specific interventions for the socio-economic development of the underprivileged, census data has always been the basis. In a country like India, the social milieu influences the mobility of various communities across the economic levels," he said.
Tamil Nadu Assembly passes resolution
"As caste has historically been a key determinant of the prospects of social progress in our society, it is essential that caste-based socio-economic census data is made available in public domain," the Chief Minister underscored.
When laws are enacted on the basis of verifiable socio-economic indicators drawn from decadal Census reports, it get legal validity. However, no contemporary data is available since the last caste census was conducted in 1931. The need for quantifiable data relating to socio-economic and educational status of various castes, communities, and tribes of the entire population of the State has been emphasised in several of the judgments of the Supreme Court for classification of Backward Classes and Most Backward Classes.
"Considering all the above, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly today (26-6-2024) passed a unanimous Resolution urging the Union Government to integrate caste-based census with the national decadal census and to commence the census operations immediately. I enclosed herewith a copy of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Resolution and I look forward to your personal intervention in this regard."
