Rahul Gandhi stated that a caste census would reveal the population and share of each caste in national wealth, enabling better distribution. He also suggested it could pave the way for removing the 50 percent reservation cap for SCs, STs, and OBCs
Published Nov 05, 2024 | 11:52 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 05, 2024 | 11:52 PM
Rahul Gandhi
Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, 5 November, said the caste census in Telangana will become a role model for the entire nation as it is being planned to be done on sound lines.
Speaking at a workshop on the eve of the commencement of the caste census across Telangana from Wednesday, 6 November, Gandhi said the enumeration would help in knowing the strength of each caste and their share in the national wealth.
“If we know these details we can plan better distribution of wealth to all sections,” he said, adding that it would become a precursor to eliminating the artificial barrier of 50 percent reservations to SCs, STs, and OBCs.
The Congress leader deplored the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accusing him of dividing the state the moment he raised the issue of caste discrimination prevalent in the country.
“Since when revealing the truth has begun dividing the country?” Gandhi asked and said the truth needed to be explored.
“The foundation of all religions is truth and nonviolence,” he pointed out, wondering why the prime minister has so far not said he wanted to challenge caste discrimination. The Congress leader said that the system has been thriving because of those who benefit from it.
“Only those who resist caste census are those who are hiding the truth and do not want the people to know the truth,” he said.
In an impassioned plea, Gandhi called for eliminating caste discrimination, the worst kind of inequality that could exist. He recalled discussing the issue of inequality with an expert of international repute who said that India was the most “unequal country” on the planet but his analysis did not cover the caste discrimination factor rampant in the country.
The international expert’s analysis of inequality in India was grossly inadequate since it does not include the caste factor, he said and pointed out that the most heinous of all discrimination was the practice of untouchability which did not exist anywhere in the world except in India.
“It is the extreme degree of inequality,” he said.
Gandhi said that the caste census was intended to end the hidden caste discrimination that has been existing for ages in India. “It is everywhere — in the corporate world, political and legal systems, and all other sectors. This discrimination destroys the people, their careers, the confidence they have in themselves, and their belief in the nation.”
He wanted the enumerators to have questions prepared not by the bureaucrats but by the people of all sections of society, particularly the Adivasis, Dalits, and the OBCs. “The caste census will give us a political and development instrument that will define the country. It will usher in a new system of governance for the future,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
The Congress leader said that it was time now to end the caste system in society.
“Let us know the true extent of caste discrimination. Caste census is like an x-ray examination of a person who suffered an injury,” he said and pointed out that without knowing the extent of the injury no doctor could give the right treatment.
“If a doctor says there is no need for an x-ray then no one would have any faith in him,” he said, in an indirect swipe at the NDA dispensation, perceived to be against caste census.
(Edited by Ananya Rao).
