Mumbai: Amid hectic political developments over Maratha and OBC quotas in Maharashtra, NCP minister, and Samata Parishad founder Chhagan Bhujbal on Monday made a strong case for conducting a caste census across India, saying that he will urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the same.
Chhagan Bhujbal On Caste Census
“If this census is done, it will be of great benefit to the OBCs of the country as they will get a huge amount of funds from the Centre,” he said after chairing the Samata Parishad meeting in Mumbai.
“Narendra Modi has become the Prime Minister of the country for the third time. Now we are going to make an appeal to him to get a caste census done. If it is done, it will shed light on various issues of OBCs. We will not only understand the population but also the situation of OBCs,” said Bhujbal.
The veteran OBC leader added that the funds would be available to OBCs also which currently are available only to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Bhujbal's demand for a caste census came days after NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar demanded it last week.
Interestingly, the Congress, NCP, and NCP (SP) have strongly demanded a caste census while the BJP has yet to make it stand clear on this issue. The census of scheduled tribes and scheduled castes has been happening for the last 150 years and these sections have separate budgetary allocations for welfare schemes.
In December 2023, CM Eknath Shinde said that the government would take the decision after listening to the opinions of all sections of society.
