New Delhi: The Union government filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court on the Bihar caste survey late on Monday evening noting that a certain paragraph in the ‘previous’ affidavit had “inadvertently crept in”. The paragraph in question read, “No other body under the Constitution or otherwise is entitled to conduct the exercise of either census or any action akin to census.”
The fresh affidavit comes following criticism from the Bihar government, Janata Dal (United), and Rashtriya Janata Dal. They hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government, saying that it neither wants to conduct a census nationally nor does it want Bihar to do it.
Despite the Union government dropping para 5 from the previous affidavit and filing a fresh affidavit, the crux of the Modi government’s view on the matter remains the same. The new affidavit says that a census is a statutory process governed by the Census Act of 1948, which was enacted in the exercise of the powers under Entry 69 of List I of the Constitution’s Seventh Schedule and that the said Act empowers only the Central Government to conduct the Census, Livelaw reported.
The Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, was eager to convey that the Union government does not want to be seen as in any way obstructing the Bihar census, when he told the apex court, “The Centre was neither opposing nor supporting the litigation.”
The Centre’s move came shortly after Bihar deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had said. “They have no knowledge. They only know how to lie and suppress the truth. They have opposed it even in the affidavit… It has been made clear that the BJP does not want it and is opposing it. If they support it, then they should conduct it (caste census) across the country,” he had said.
Earlier, RJD patriarch and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav had also hit out at the Modi government on the issue. He said the Centre has a hostile attitude towards the caste survey conducted in Bihar. “The prime minister of this country seems distressed with castes. He keeps mentioning ‘Jati’ in his speeches, perhaps he thinks this social reality will not let him enjoy peace. He is right if he thinks so,” he had said.
Political observers say the Mahagathbandhan followed by the Congress and the INDIA bloc have said they are for the caste census, the BJP has been on the backfoot and anxious to evade the subject. It has problems with agreeing to do a caste census, as it is fundamentally at odds with its ideology of Hindutva, seeking ‘vertical integration’ of all castes under a Hindutva umbrella and also not suitable for it politically. It feels such a survey will only benefit the Opposition speaking of empowerment and social justice.
While Bihar’s caste survey is complete, similar surveys are being conducted in Odisha and Jharkhand.
The Nitish Kumar government launched the caste census in Bihar in January this year, stating that detailed information on the socio-economic conditions of the people in the state would help create better government policy to aid disadvantaged groups. The entire exercise was supposed to have been completed by May. However, the legal challenges meant the government was unable to complete the exercise.