The UPA government today admitted differences of opinion in the cabinet on a caste-based census but also hinted there will be no changes in the ongoing process.
Law minister M Veerappa Moily said there are “differing views” in the cabinet but not a “division” among its members. In the cabinet meeting last evening, there was no consensus over the proposal to conduct a caste-based census to project the OBC population separately.
But minister for new and renewable energy minister Farooq Abdullah made it clear that the cabinet discussions were for the next census (2021) and not for the ongoing exercise. “The census has already started. So it is not possible to do it (OBC count) this time,” Abdullah told reporters outside Parliament.
The BJP, the main opposition party, further raised the pitch for a caste-based census in the Parliament. “The last caste-based census was done in 1931. Following the Partition of the country several people went to Pakistan or came to India. We are totally unaware of the correct caste data,” said S S Ahluwalia, the deputy leader of the BJP in Rajya Sabha.
The discussion on the census, however, got derailed in the Lok Sabha when BJP leader Ananth Kumar wanted the government to respond on illegal immigrants from Bangladesh who are getting registered as Indian citizens and raising concerns over “internal disturbance and external aggression”.
