ANI file photo
NEW DELHI: Congress Monday raised questions about the intent of Modi govt to hold a caste enumeration in Census 2027 as it had announced earlier, pointing out that the question about the caste of the head of a household in the “houselisting” phase does not offer “OBC” as an option. Govt last week published the gazette notification for “houselisting” which is to start in April, and released a list of 33 questions to be asked to households being surveyed.Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh demanded that Modi govt immediately hold talks with political parties, states and civil society organisations before finalising the details of the caste enumeration exercise.Ramesh argued that “question 12” for “houselisting” asks whether the head of a household belongs to SCs, STs, or ‘other’ categories, but does not explicitly ask about OBC and general categories.”Since caste enumeration is to be part of Census 2027, ‘question 12’ as formulated does raise serious questions on Modi govt’s true intentions and on its commitment to a comprehensive, fair, nation-wide caste census,” he said.Ramesh reminded that PM Modi had rejected the demand of caste census raised by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, even dubbing it “urban Naxal mindset”. But, he said, Modi govt did a ‘U-turn’ on April 30 last year, and announced that caste enumeration would be included in Census 2027, adding that PM was “forced to capitulate”. “Congress calls upon Modi govt to immediately initiate a dialogue with political parties, state govts, and civil society organisations before finalising details of the caste enumeration exercise,” Ramesh said, adding that such consultations were an integral part of the caste survey that was carried out by the Telangana govt in 2025.
