'Such clarity on census delayed for over three yrs': Cong takes dig at Shah

The Congress on Sunday took a swipe at Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks that an announcement on a census would be made once it was finalised, saying "such clarity on a census that has already been delayed for over three years".

The opposition party's remarks came a day after Shah said the decadal census exercise would be carried out at an appropriate time and an announcement made when it was decided.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The self-styled Chanakya has just dropped a bombshell. Yesterday, in Chhattisgarh, he let out a top secret. He said that the census will be carried out at an appropriate time and that an announcement will be made for it when it is decided."

"Wow. Such clarity on a census that has already been delayed for over 3 years!" Ramesh said in a post on X.

The house listing phase of the census and the exercise to update the National Population Register were scheduled to be carried out across the country from April 1 to September 30, 2020, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

"The census will be carried out at an appropriate time. We will make an announcement for it when it is decided," Shah said at a press conference in Raipur while replying to a question on it.

The census operation continues to be on hold and the government has not yet announced a new schedule for it.

Several opposition parties have been demanding a "caste census". However, there has been no announcement by the government so far on this politically-significant issue.