"When we think of poverty and backwardness, it is not just a question of righting a social wrong which has existed for many years." - Rajiv Gandhi in 1990
Today we need to harness all the energies of the nation to develop so fast as to compete with other countries.
That can only be done if we harness all the resources of our people. That includes the weakest, the most backward, the poorest. They cannot be left out. I don’t think anybody In this House will say that when a child is born, there is a substantial difference in merit between one child and another child. They are all the same.
The difference comes when equal opportunity is not given. The first thing in removing backwardness and poverty is to look at the root of the problem, give equal opportunity." -- Leader of the Opposition, Rajiv Gandhi on Sept 6, 1990 in Lok Sabha
Caste is a social menace of the Hindu society and good/bad old caste game is brought back into national political paradigm.
Can Caste counter Hindutva ?
पूर्व उपमुख्यमंत्री एवं राज्यसभा सांसद सुशील कुमार मोदी ने कहा कि बिहार में जातीय सर्वे करने का निर्णय उस सरकार का था, जिसमें भाजपा शामिल थी।
उन्होंने कहा कि जातीय सर्वे की रिपोर्ट जारी होने पर लालू प्रसाद श्रेय लेने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं, जबकि 15 साल राज करने के दौरान उन्होंने जातीय जनगणना नहीं करायी थी।
श्री मोदी ने कहा कि जातीय, आर्थिक, सामाजिक सहित कुल 27 बिंदुओं पर सर्वे कराया गया था। इन सभी विंदुओं पर ग्राम स्तर के आंकड़ों के साथ सरकार को विस्तृत रिपोर्ट जारी करनी चाहिए।
उन्होंने कहा कि नगर निकायों में आरक्षण देने के लिए राज्य सरकार ने पिछले वर्ष अतिपिछड़ा वर्ग आयोग बनाया था। उसकी रिपोर्ट अब तक क्यों दबाए रखी गई है?
श्री मोदी ने कहा कि अभी जातीय सर्वे के केवल राज्यस्तरीय आंकड़े सामने आए हैं और ये अनुमान के अनुरूप हैं। हम सर्वे रिपोर्ट का गंभीरतापूर्वक अध्ययन कर अपनी नीतियाँ तय करेंगे।
(Former Bihar CM and BJP MP, Sushilkumar Modi said Lalu Prasad Yadav should not take credit for Bihar's caste survey as it was Nitish Kumar-led government along with BJP support when resolution was passed for such survey)
Lalu Prasad ruled in Bihar for 15 years but never carried out any such survey.
"The figures those have been revealed for Bihar is on expected lines...BJP will formulate necessary policies based on the new statistics," Sushil Modi aserted.
JD-U leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, one prime ambitious player for PM-post for 2024, has played up the caste game disclosing the 'caste census' figures. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi does not want to be behind and hence gave a clarion call for caste census.
"The greater the population, the greater the rights -- this is our pledge," Rahul Gandhi tweeted on X.
Both these leaders have one thing common. They want to shake up BJP's support base and harm Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP electorally.
For his part, Modi says -- "Even then (past) they used to play with the feelings of the poor and they are doing it even now. Even they used to divide the country on the basis of caste and even now they are doing the same".
According to the data, Hindus comprise 81.99 per cent of the population, Muslims 17.7 per cent, Christians 0.05 per cent, Sikhs 0.01 etc etc. In Bihar, perhaps these do not matter much.
What matters is the survey report revealed that 63 per cent of Other Backward Castes (OBCs) constituted the state's total population of 13 crore. In Supreme Court, the Bihar government had claimed it was not 'census' but collection datas on socio-economic yardsticks.
Officially called the Bihar Jaati Adharit Ganana, it was initiated by the Nitish Kumar-led government in January this year and the move was opposed both in the Patna High Court and the Supreme Court. While the Patna High Court gave its nod, the Supreme Court had said, “Unless you (petitioners) are able to make out a prima facie case, we are not going to stay anything”.
The detailed breakdown revealed that the backward class constituted 27 per cent of the population, while the extremely backward class (EBC) make up 36 per cent.
Scheduled Castes (SCs) accounted for slightly more than 19 per cent and Scheduled Tribes (STs) 1.68 per cent. The general category formed 15.52 per cent of Bihar's population.
Now see what happens and what could trigger a further debate
Ashwani Kumar of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) suggests that as OBC and the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) constituted 63% of the State’s population.
And of this, the EBCs constituted 36% while the OBCs stood at 27.13%-- the figures may open the door for challenging the ceiling of 50% reservations currently in place.
The 50% ceiling on reservations in jobs and educational institutions was accepted by the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney Vs Union of India case in 1992, a few years after the VP Singh Government announced the implementation of the Mandal Commission report which recommended reservations for OBCs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the opposition parties for their "anti-development" politics and said they have no vision or road map and hate to see the country's progress.
“When the entire world is praising the country and sees their future in India, there are those who indulge in politics and are unable to see anything except their chair...they do not like India being praised the world over. These anti-development people are trying to prove that nothing has happened in the nation and they have pain in their stomach (over India's praise)," he said.
The Congress party thinks it has 'discovered' a gold mine to corner BJP and Modi. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the caste census of Bihar has proved that 84 per cent of people in the state are OBCs, SCs and STs and their share should be according to their population.
"Out of 90 secretaries of the central government, only 3 are OBC, who handle only 5 per cent of India's budget. Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics of India...," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
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| Blogger: Has India not changed since 1990 ? *Bihar Govt celebrating Caste Based census* GST Collection: Lowest in big states GDP: Lowest in big states Health: Lowest in Big states Literacy: Lowest in Big states Infrastructure: Poorest in Big states Poverty: Highest in Big states so what? Bihar is 1st state to do Caste Based census. |
Some questions raised in social media !!
# Is Sickularism -- now equals to Casteism ?
## When will the reservation system come to an end in India?
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