Journalism of Courage
JD (U) parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government had been trying to defer general census for another decade. He also took on Bihar BJP for delaying its consent on all-party meeting over caste census.
“We are getting to hear that Centre may not conduct general census and the government will, instead, get the headcount through ongoing Covid vaccination numbers. While we have been putting pressure on the Centre for caste census, it looks that not even general census would be conducted,” Kushwaha told The Indian Express.
Notably, the JD(U) and BJP are partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Bihar.
The senior JD (U) leader said general census was not just about headcount. “Rather, general census gives information on socio-economic status of people and helps in formation of policies and plans. It was time the Centre clarified its position”, said Kushwaha.
Asked if Bihar government would go ahead with doing its own caste census, Kushwaha said though the Centre had said a state government could do so, it was necessary to take BJP on board on this. “BJP and JD (U) are alliance partners. The Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has already said that he has been waiting for BJP’s consent for all-party meet on caste census. We have got nod of nine other parties. After all, BJP was also part of delegation of 10 Bihar parties that met PM last year to demand caste census”, said Kushwaha.
The JD (U) leader said no political party including BJP would afford to “say no” to caste census.
“But the Central government looks to bypass general census itself so that it does not face question on caste census”, said the JD (U) MLC and former Union minister.
BJP national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan, however, said: “Census will happen at the right time. The focus of the government since the onset of the pandemic has been to contain and effectively deal with it. We have already vaccinated our 90 percent population with the first dose and 65 percent population with the second dose which is far higher as compared to those of developed nations with far little population like the US, UK and France etc. There is no connection between the process of census and vaccination as being claimed by some”.
