During his tenure as Union Law Minister in the UPA-II government in 2010, M Veerappa Moily was among the first within the Congress to push for a caste headcount following pressure from the Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). In an interview with The Indian Express, Moily talks about his party’s renewed push for a caste census and OBC reservation within the women’s quota Bill. Excerpts: The Congress is now pushing for a caste census. But the UPA-II government under Manmohan Singh conducted the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC), and the data was not released. The report was not ready by the time we stepped down, though the survey was complete. The matter came up before the Supreme Court later and the BJP government said the data had errors in it. But I remember that the registrar general then (under the Ministry of Home Affairs), who is the authority to speak on the matter, had said the data was largely error- free. They (the BJP government) are reluctant to use it. It shows they are opposed to a caste census. There are state and Central reservations for backward classes. In the absence of authentic data, how can reservations for jobs, education and economic purposes be implemented? Reservation is attached to every beneficiary programme. How will benefits reach people without the identification of a targeted group? Why is the Congress in Karnataka not making public the report of the socio-economic caste survey conducted by the Backward Classes Commission under its government in 2015? The Karnataka government has the data; the report is under implementation. Of course, every 10 years, the Centre and the state have to revise the (OBC) list. The commission conducted a house-to-house survey. But the Secretary of the commission did not sign the report. The previous BJP government used this excuse (to not release it). Even if it was not signed then, it can be signed now. A Congress government is in place now in the state… Will you release the report? We are going to implement it. Traditionally, the Congress vote bank has comprised the upper class, Dalits and Muslims. The largest chunk of the poor are from the backward classes. How can we ignore them? The garibi hatao and the 20-point programme under the Indira Gandhi government were also aimed at the poor. The Congress implemented the Mandal Commission report as well as implemented reservation for backward classes in the IAS and the IPS. The women’s reservation Bill passed by the UPA government (in 2010) did not have reservation for OBCs. Recently, Rahul Gandhi said he '100 per cent regretted' Congress not revealing SECC data and not bringing in OBC quota in women's Bill. We wanted to have it even then. But there were certain technical and legal problems. That is why we could not implement it. OBC reservation has to come in now. Then there is representation of women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. It all has to come together. Replying to the debate on the women’s reservation Bill before it was passed in 2010, you said the government does not have OBC data because no caste census had been conducted since 1931. The situation is still the same. We have been insisting since 2011 that the census data has to come. Unless a caste census is done, you cannot implement OBC reservation. Are you demanding OBC reservation in both the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies? Yes. The representation of women in Parliament and Assemblies is not beyond 15 or 20%. Women constitute 60% of the population. If political representation is not provided to the backward classes, what is the meaning of democracy? What is your demand? Unless a caste census is done, it is very difficult to implement OBC reservation both for men and women. Reservation should be comprehensive, not partial. How much OBC reservation are you demanding? In services, reservation now stands at 27%. We must give that much. But I would say that we will have to provide reservation in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies as per the population of the backward classes. This should be within the ambit of the women’s quota Bill as well.
