Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said his government has no plans to conduct a “caste census” in the state as demanded by the Opposition parties. In a written reply to a question asked by Samajwadi Party MLA Sangram Yadav, the chief minister replied: “No, the question (of conducting a caste census) does not arise.”

 

“The subject matter of census is mentioned at number 69 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The Census Act 1948 and the Census Rules 1990 have been made by the Government of India for census work under which the work of census is done by the Government of India,” he added.

The Samajwadi Party, which has been demanding a caste census in the state, had included the issue in its manifesto for the 2022 Assembly polls. The issue will also be top on the Samajwadi Party’s poll plank for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. SP president Akhilesh Yadav has also raised this issue in the Legislative Assembly in the past. The demand gained momentum after a recent Patna High Court judgment giving legal status to the ongoing caste survey in Bihar.

 

 

On Wednesday, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said that all eyes were now on when the caste census will begin in Uttar Pradesh following the Patna High Court’s decision to uphold the caste survey in Bihar as "perfectly valid".

"After caste census in many states of the country, the demand for conducting it in Uttar Pradesh is also gaining momentum. But the present BJP government does not seem ready for it. This is worrying,” Mayawati said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the issue of caste census rocked the Legislative Council on Thursday as Samajwadi Party members trooped into the well of the House, forcing an adjournment for 15 minutes. SP members raised the issue of a “caste-based census” through an adjournment notice. Emphasising the admissibility of the notice, SP member Swami Prasad Maurya said backward castes in the state are being denied social justice in the absence of such a survey.

 

Maurya said if the government wants, it could enumerate all the castes in the state.

There are hundreds of such castes which were not included in the backward castes category earlier but with their recent inclusion, the population of backward classes in the state has increased to 60-65%, he added.

SP member Naresh Uttam Patel said the party has been raising the issue of a “caste-based census” from time to time, stressing the admissibility of information, but no progress has been made so far. The last caste census was held in the country in 1931, but after Independence, any talks about the need for such a survey were ignored, he said.

Responding on behalf of the government, Leader of the House and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, said, “SP members gave long speeches on caste-based census, but were sleeping when they were in power. When you were in power in Uttar Pradesh four times, then you did not worry about the backward classes. You were worried about being ousted from power. There is no possibility (of you coming to power) even till the year 2047.”

He argued that a ‘bouquet’ of social equations can be seen in the form of the Union Council of Ministers and Uttar Pradesh Council of Ministers as they have the largest number of representatives from Other Backward Classes. Keshav Prasad Maurya said raising the issue of a “caste-based census” in the House was an “agenda-setting exercise” for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

 

The minister added that the census is conducted by the Centre and not the state government. “We do not even have the right to make any separate provision regarding the census,” he said. “From 2004 to 2014, the Congress government at the Centre was on the crutches of SP and BSP, then why did the SP not conduct a caste census then? Apart from this, from 2012 to 2017, there was only the SP government in Uttar Pradesh, then why did it not get this work done?” Keshav Prasad Maurya asked.

Meanwhile, SP members, discontent with the statement of the Leader of the House, started shouting slogans and squatted in the well of the House. Chairman Kunwar Manvendra Singh asked them to go to their seats but they refused, following which the Speaker adjourned the proceedings of the House for 15 minutes.