Tamil Nadu assembly approves caste census resolution
- In Reports
- 11:29 AM, Jun 27, 2024
- Myind Staff
On Wednesday, the Tamil Nadu assembly passed a resolution moved by Chief Minister MK Stalin, urging the Union government to conduct a nationwide caste census alongside the general census. The call for a caste census was a prominent issue advocated by the INDIA bloc during the recent Lok Sabha elections.
“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 resolution read. “This House, therefore unanimously urges the Union Government to immediately commence the census work, which is due from the year 2021 along with caste-based population census, this time.”
Responding to queries from political parties about why the state cannot conduct the caste census independently, Chief Minister Stalin highlighted the constraints faced by state governments in gathering caste-based data and enacting legislation based on such data, which could be legally contested.
BJP legislators and their ally Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) urged the ruling DMK to proceed with the caste census independently. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu's primary opposition party, AIADMK, supported the resolution.
On Wednesday, AIADMK legislators were suspended from the assembly after they tried to raise the issue of the Kallakurichi tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of 63 people.
“It was our AIADMK government which began the work for a caste census,” Leader of opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) told reporters after being evicted. “But the DMK which came after us is just doing drama. The state has the power to conduct a caste census.”
EPS appointed a committee headed by retired Justice A Kulasekaran in 2020 to gather quantifiable data on castes, communities, and tribes in Tamil Nadu. He blamed the DMK government, which came into power in May 2021, for not granting the panel a six-month extension. BJP state president K Annamalai stated that Chief Minister Stalin had a moral responsibility to clarify why he did not extend the committee's tenure.
“We also wish to inform the TN CM that the Socio-economic Caste Census in 2011, which the Congress Government never released despite 99.3% enumeration by December 2013, was conducted with the support of the Ministry of Rural Development through the respective ‘State Governments’,” Annamalai said in a post on X.
In the assembly, the Chief Minister pointed out that under Section 3 of The Census Act, 1948, only the Union government is authorised to conduct the population census.
“Many say that state governments are empowered to conduct caste census under the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008…Under part A of Section 3 of the Act state governments cannot collect data on communities listed under 7th Schedule of the Constitution,” Stalin said. Section 32 of the Act says Census data under The Census Act cannot be collected and a related case is pending before the Supreme Court, he added.
“The only option is to conduct the population census by the Union government. That’s why we insist that caste census should be conducted by them,” he said, blaming the BJP-led Union government for delaying the exercise. Stalin had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2023 demanding a caste census. “In 2020, the Union government cited Covid-19 pandemic as a reason for not conducting the census,” Stalin said. “What has stopped them from conducting the exercise since 2021?”
Image source: Economic Times
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