New Delhi : Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said that the details of the caste census are "still awaited" a year after the Centre announced it as a part of Census 2027. He criticised the Centre for holding no dialogue with Opposition parties and state governments.
The Congress MP asked that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise to the Opposition party for calling it "urban naxal" over the demand for a caste census. The central government has included the enumeration of castes in the second phase of the 2027 Census, which Jairam Ramesh called a "dramatic U-turn," owing to the Narendra Modi government's alleged apprehension initially.
Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, "Today, exactly a year ago, the Modi Govt had announced that caste enumeration of the entire population will be included in the upcoming Census. The recent chronology relating to this dramatic U-turn by the Prime Minister is this: On July 21 2021, the Home Minister had answered a question in the Lok Sabha asked by a BJP MP, Raksha Nikhil Khadse (now a Minister herself) and said that the Government of India had decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population."
"On September 21, 2021, the Modi Govt filed an Affidavit in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 841 of 2021 in the Supreme Court, saying that any directive by the Court to enumerate caste-wise population would be tantamount to interfering with a policy decision already taken by the Modi Govt. On April 16, 2023, the President of the Indian National Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge ji wrote to the PM demanding an up-to-date caste census as part of the regular census. On April 28, 2024, in a television interview to News18 Network, the Prime Minister attacked the Indian National Congress, saying that its demand for a caste census was indicative of 'urban naxal' thought," he added, describing the events in the run-up to the announcement of the caste enumeration.
The Congress leader shared party president Mallikarjun Kharge's letter to PM Modi offering suggestions on the caste census. Kharge urged the Centre to adopt the "Telangana Model" in conducting the caste-based census. Expressing concerns, he wrote, "The Prime Minister owes the leadership of the Indian National Congress an apology for his accusation. More importantly, he owes the people of India an explanation of why he allowed his mind to be contaminated by 'urban naxal' thought when he announced a caste census on April 30, 2025."
"A full year has passed. The details of how this caste enumeration will be done are still awaited. There has been no dialogue with Opposition parties and state governments, let alone with experts in this subject," Ramesh added.
Noting the question of caste-based reservation raised during the discussion on Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, Jairam Ramesh said, "The President of the Indian National Congress had written to the PM again on May 5, 2025, on the issue of the caste census. That letter was not even acknowledged. The issues raised in that letter remain very valid even now. In fact, they are more relevant after the recently-concluded special session of Parliament, where it was evident that the PM has every intention of delaying the caste census."
On April 30 last year, the Centre announced to go ahead with caste enumeration in the 2027 population census. The Centre has stated that a comprehensive caste enumeration will be done during the Population Enumeration phase.
Until the 2011 Census, the exercise included the systematic enumeration of only Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).