Rahul Gandhi criticized the Centre for its 'shocking' response on the caste census, alleging a 'betrayal of Bahujans' due to the lack of a clear framework, timeline, or discussion, as revealed in a reply from the government in Parliament.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday slammed the Centre for allegedly having no framework or discussion in Parliament regarding the caste census, saying that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has betrayed the Bahujans. Rahul Gandhi shared the reply to a question asked of him in the Parliament and alleged that the Centre has no desire to conduct the caste census. "In Parliament, I asked the government a question about the caste census - their response is shocking. No concrete framework, no time-bound plan, no discussion in Parliament, and no dialogue with the public. There is not even any desire to learn from the strategies of successful caste censuses in other states. This stance of the Modi government on caste census is an open betrayal of trust with the country's Bahujans," Gandhi posted on X.

Gandhi's Questions in Parliament

Rahul Gandhi has asked for the "details and likely timelines of the major procedural steps for preparation of the decennial census, including preparation of questions and scheduling; whether the Government proposes to publish draft census questions and seek input from the public or public representatives on these questions; and whether the Government is considering past experiences, including caste surveys conducted in different States, and if so, the details thereof?"

Add Asianet Newsable as a Preferred SourcegooglePreferred

Centre's Response on Census Process

For the question on the caste census, the Centre replied that the next census will take into account the experiences gained from previous censuses and will seek suggestions from relevant stakeholders. "The census has a history of over 150 years. The next census takes into account the experiences gained from previous censuses. Before each census, suggestions are also sought from relevant stakeholders," the reply by Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai read.

Details on 2027 Census

On the 2027 countrywide Census, the reply in the Parliament said, "The 2027 Census will be conducted in two phases, i.e., Phases 1 and 2. Houselisting and Housing Enumeration, which will be conducted over a period of 30 days from April to September 2026, as per the convenience of the State/UT Governments, will be followed by Phase II - Population Enumeration (PE). The Population Enumeration will be conducted during February 2027 with the reference date of March 1, 2027, except in the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir and the Snowbound Non-Synchronous Areas of the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where the Census will be conducted during September 2026 with the reference date of October 1, 2026."

"The Census Questionnaire is finalised before each Census based on suggestions/inputs received from various Ministries, Departments, Organisations, and Census Data Users, etc. The drafted Census Questionnaires are prepared in the field to assess their feasibility before finalisation," Nityanand Rai's reply added.

Bihar conducted a caste-survey in 2023, while the Congress governments in Telangana and Karnataka conducted it in 2024 and September-October 2025, respectively.

Lok Sabha witnessed an elaborate Question Hour on the third day of the Winter Session. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)