Centre said it has initiated the exercise to conduct the census and an announcement in this regard is expected soon while indicating it had an “open mind” on adding a caste column in the decennial enumeration, which has been delayed since the Covid outbreak.
“Work on holding the census is already on and a decision in this regard is likely soon,” a senior govt functionary said.
Several opposition parties and BJP allies have been demanding a caste count and even RSS has said it had no problem with the exercise so long as the findings were used for development and welfare schemes, and not for “politics”.
The functionary also said one nation-one election, one of the govt’s priorities, will be implemented during the current Modi govt’s tenure.
The modalities of holding elections to state assemblies and Lok Sabha simultaneously were being worked out, the functionary said, adding, “Definitely, one nation-one election will be implemented in this tenure itself. It will be a reality.”
In his Independence Day address last month, PM Modi had made a strong pitch for one nation-one election, contending that frequent polls were creating hurdles in the country’s progress.
The last census with a caste column in it was conducted in 1931, with the govt doing away with the exercise after independence.
This is the first time that the govt has confirmed the likelihood of census being conducted shortly, as well as the possibility of including caste in the exercise. “This is yet to be decided,” the functionary said when asked about the inclusion of caste in the census, and added, “We have an open mind about it.”
JD(U), LJP back one- nation-one poll plan
A day after govt asserted that it will achieve PM Modi's one nation-one poll target during his current term, NDA partners pledged their support for the move. JD(U) and LJP formally extended support for the move, which has been opposed by opposition parties that have alleged that clubbing the polls would violate the spirit of the Constitution.
In a statement, JD(U) said BJP's plan to go back to the scheme of synchronised polls, which was the norm until 1967, would be conducive to the goal of faster development.
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) national general secretary and national spokesperson Ajay Pandey said, “We are in full support of one nation-one election. We strongly feel that elections round the year in some part or the other take a heavy toll on the plans and implementation of govt projects besides resulting in heavy expenditure.”
