Training his guns at the Union government, Stalin alleged the centre is delaying the "basic task of conducting the census every 10 years."
Published Jun 26, 2024 | 1:07 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 26, 2024 | 1:07 PM
MK Stalin in the Assembly. (Screengrab)
The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday, 26 June, adopted the resolution moved by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin urging the Union Government to immediately commence the census work, which is due in the year 2021 along with the caste-based population census, this time.
The resolution urging the Union government to immediately start the census work read, “This house considers that caste-based population census is essential to formulate policies, in order to ensure equal rights and equal opportunities in education, economy, and employment to every citizen of India.”
The legislators belonging to various political parties including the BJP supported the resolution which was adopted by the House in the absence of the principal Opposition AIADMK members who were suspended from the Assembly for disrupting the proceedings.
Speaker M Appavu said the resolution was adopted unanimously.
Speaking on the resolution, the chief minister stated, “We can become a society with real, widespread economic development only by making all sections of the society have equal opportunities and equal rights in access to education and employment.”
“It is with that objective that the reservation policy is being implemented to bring about a balance among all sections of the population on educational, social and economic levels.”
He further added, “Thus, we are making a way for the people of all walks of life such as the downtrodden, the backward, the very backward, the minorities and the differently abled to develop together and we are following it.”
Recalling PMK legislator GK Mani’s plea for a caste-wise census to provide 10.5 percent reservation for Vanniyar community, Stalin stated, the DMK supports the caste census and should be discussed in great detail.
#TamilNadu Chief Minister @mkstalin moves a resolution in the State Assembly urging the Union Government to immediately commence the census work, which is due from the year 2021 along with caste-based Population Census, this time. pic.twitter.com/DZ6h6S1xCW
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) June 26, 2024
Stalin noted that the National Census is a mammoth task undertaken by the Union Government under the Census Act of 1948.
He further added, “It is a grand mission which has been conducted by the Union Government every 10 consecutive years for more than 100 years since the British rule. All the population-related statistics are collected through this census and compiled and published by the Union Government.”
“According to Section 3 of the Census Act, the Union Government shall conduct the census. However, a widely held opinion is that the State Government can carry out a caste-wise census under the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008.”
He added, “While the Act empowers the State Governments to collect socio-economic statistics, Section 3 Clause (a) of the same Act prohibits the collection of statistics in respect of castes in the 7th Schedule of the Constitution of India.”
Stalin further noted that a case pertaining to the matter is in the Supreme Court.
Addressing the house, Stalin reiterated, “In this case, the caste-wise census cannot be conducted under the Statistics Collection Act, 2008, as some people have misunderstood in the public domain.”
The chief minister noted that a legally sustainable census means that it must be carried out under the Census Act, a Union law. Therefore, they have been insisting that it would be proper for the Union Government to undertake this work.
Training the guns at the Union government, the DMK president, alleged the centre is delaying the “basic task of conducting the census every 10 years.”
The population census had to be carried out in 2021 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stalin questioned, “The first year was due to the covid pandemic. Isn’t the union government neglecting its duty to not carry out the work even after more than three years after the end of Covid?”
Noting that he wrote to the Prime Minister on 20 October, 2023, regarding the same, Stalin said, ” State Government will take the data available when the Union Government undertakes the fieldwork.”
Reiterating the possibility of legal issues, Stalin said, “if the respective state governments collect statistics in the name of a survey and then enact laws based on it, it is likely to be struck down by the courts at a later date.”
“Therefore, based on these reasons, I would like to propose the following resolution through this Assembly that the Union government should immediately start the National Census, which has already been delayed, and also conduct a caste-wise census.”
ஒன்றிய அரசால் மேற்கொள்ளப்படும் சாதிவாரி கணக்கெடுப்பின் அடிப்படையில் மட்டுமே மாநில அரசு மேற்கொள்ளும் முடிவுகளுக்கு சட்டப் பாதுகாப்பு கிடைக்கும்.
– சட்டப்பேரவையில் மாண்புமிகு முதலமைச்சர் திரு @mkstalin அவர்கள்.#TNAssembly pic.twitter.com/qBFIdT1Pt0
— DMK (@arivalayam) June 26, 2024
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula with inputs from PTI and Nolan Patrick Pinto)
