All-party meeting soon to decide on caste-based census in Bihar: Nitish

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that an all-party meeting would be convened soon to take a decision on conducting a caste-based census in the state.

Talking to reporters here, Kumar said that he had clarified in the past that the option of carrying out a state-specific census exercise is open.

"We (all party) will soon take up the matter. An all-party meeting will be called to arrive at a unanimous decision on the exercise. Whatever be the decision, it will have to be a unanimous one, he underlined.

The Centre had in September told the Supreme Court in an affidavit that caste census of Backward Classes is administratively difficult and cumbersome and excluding such information from the purview of the exercise is a ''conscious policy decision''.

Earlier, Kumar, as the leader of an all-party delegation from Bihar, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press for inclusion of OBCs in caste census.

Asked about his reaction to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's latest remark that the country needs a nation-wide agitation for caste-based census, just like the farmers' protest, the CM said, "I don't know what he (Lalu Prasad) has said. But a decision will be taken soon. Leaders of all political parties, including the RJD, will sit together and hold a discussion over this demand for caste-based census in Bihar".