Caste Census Now Unstopable Idea, Anything Less Than it Unacceptable, says Rahul Gandhi

Newly appointed Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the “Caste census” is now an unstoppable idea and anything less than it, along with an economic and institutional survey is unacceptable.

During his interaction at the Georgetown University, Rahul Gandhi said that the “caste census” is now an “unstoppable idea”.

“The critical question of whether 90 per cent of our population is meaningfully represented in India’s institutional structure – economy, government, education – demands an answer. At its core, this is an issue of fairness and justice.

“Anything less than a comprehensive caste census, along with an economic and institutional survey is unacceptable,” the Congress leader said.

He further said that there’s an elephant in the room and when we talk about the capture of institutions, businesses, and the media, the elephant in the room is that 90 per cent of India—OBCs, Dalits, Adivasis—aren’t even part of the game and that’s really the elephant in the room.

He explained, “The Caste Census is a simple exercise, but it’s more than just a census. It’s one of three ideas. It’s a simple way of saying: we got independence in 1947, it’s been a while now, let’s see how the lower castes, backward castes, and Dalits have integrated into the system. What is their actual participation?”

He mentioned that frankly, “we already have the data, and I can tell you, out of the top ten businesses in India, almost none are owned by the 90 per cent of the population”.

“I can tell you that in the highest courts of the country, there is almost no participation from this 90 per cent. In the national media—anchors and journalists—there is zero participation from lower castes, OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis. People know this; it’s not a secret. The large masses of people understand this. They ask, ‘Where is our participation in India?’ The idea of the Caste Census is simple. We haven’t taken any specific policy position; we’re just saying we want to understand. We want a snapshot to see where we are at—what is the participation level of lower castes, Dalits, OBCs, and the poor among the general castes? That’s what the Caste Census is really about,” he said.

He also said that there are two components, one is a socio-economic survey.

“We want to understand the socio-economic position of these castes. The third component, which I think is very important, is that we also want to understand and examine India’s institutions—media, healthcare, education—the ownership, the structure that delivers these services, and India’s participation in these institutions. These are an institutional survey, a socio-economic survey, and a census” he added.

Rahul Gandhi is currently in on US trip and henwill returning to India on September 12 or 13.