CWC likely to discuss govt's caste census move in meeting on Friday

The Congress Working Committee will meet on Friday to discuss the government's decision to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming census, sources said.

The Centre on Wednesday announced that caste enumeration will be part of the next population census, with the inclusion of caste details for the first time since independence.

Sources said a CWC meeting will be held at 4 PM at the party's 24, Akbar Road office on Friday to discuss the government decision and the way forward.

The CWC had also met last week on April 24 in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack. 

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has said he welcomes the government's "sudden" decision to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming census after "11 years of opposing it" but asserted that the Centre should give a timeline for its implementation.

Crediting the sustained campaign run by the Congress for the government's announcement on the caste census, Gandhi has said his immediate suspicion is that this could go the women's bill way in terms of implementation and demanded a specific date for it.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said it is clear that the pressure the Congress put on the government for the caste census has worked. 

Opposition parties, including the Congress, have been demanding a nationwide caste census, making it a major election issue. Some states like Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka have conducted such surveys.

Announcing the decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the census comes under the purview of the Centre, but some states have done caste enumeration in the name of surveys "non-transparently" which has created doubts in the society.