GoM on caste census fails to take decision

The Group of Ministers on caste census on Thursday failed to reach any decision on the politically sensitive issue and decided to meet again.

Sources said the GoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, discussed the issue threadbare during the 90-minute meeting but not decision was taken.

Among the aspects deliberated upon were the pros and cons of including caste in census exercise, they said. The GoM is also understood to have discussed modalities for undertaking such an exercise if a go-ahead were given.

Government had last month decided to set up the GoM on the controversial issue after consensus eluded at two meetings of the Union Cabinet. Parties like SP, RJD and JD(U) are strongly in favour of including caste in census and disrupted proceedings of Parliament in the last Budget Session by pressing their demands.

They are likely to raise the issue during Monsoon Session of Parliament expected to commence in the third week of this month. There are divisions even within Congress over the issue.

Caste census was last conducted in the country in 1931. Besides Mukherjee, the GoM includes Home Minister P Chidambaram, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran. Of them, Moily, who has been the most vocal supporter of including caste in census, left soon after the meeting began.

Abdullah, Pawar and Banerjee also did not attend meeting. The issue of inclusion of caste in census has triggered a debate with a section opposing it saying that it would divide the society on caste lines while others advocate that it would ensure fairer distribution of resources to the backward and downtrodden sections of the society.

Reports had it that Chidambaram had suggested that the caste-based census should be included in the second phase of the ongoing census exercise and clubbed with the biometric card data to ease the logistical constraints.