Govt clears caste census from dec

Decks were cleared for inclusion of caste in the census with a Group of Ministers (GoM) tonight approving the exercise to be undertaken from biometric stage, capping months of uncertainty over the issue that had divided many parties.

The GoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, met a few days after the deadline ended for political parties to submit their views on the issue. The biometric phase, expected to start sometime in December, covers photographing, fingerprinting and iris mapping of citizens for the National Population Register (NPR).

Most of the political parties favoured inclusion of caste in the census, which began on April 1.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already supported the inclusion of caste in census, a move being vociferously advocated by parties like Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal-United.

Two days ago, the Congress Core Group headed by party chief Sonia Gandhi had deliberated on the issue amid differences in the party. While the Congress formally did not write to GoM, its views were articulated by Mukherjee who had given hints in this regard recently. Party strategists have been indicating that government could go in for the exercise at the biometric stage.