Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urge him that “comprehensive review of social security and reservation policies” should be done after completion of the process of including caste calculations in the upcoming census.
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly Yadav shared this letter on ‘X’ on Saturday. This letter was written on Friday.
Addressing Prime Minister Modi, Tejashwi Yadav wrote, “After the recent announcement made by your government to conduct caste census across the country, I have been writing to you today with a lot of expectations. For years, your government and NDA alliance have been rejecting the call for caste census as divisive and unnecessary. When Bihar has initiated its caste survey, the central officials including the government and your party have made an obstacle to your party. The colleagues of the colleagues raise questions on the need for such data collection. Your delayed decision accepts the prevalence of the demands of those citizens who have been pushed to the margins of our society for a long time. “
Referring to the Bihar caste survey, Tejashwi said that this survey broke many myths. The survey revealed that the other backward classes (OBCs) and the Extreme Backward Classes (EBC) are about 63 per cent of the population of Bihar. He predicted that a similar situation may be revealed at the national level. I am sure the disadvantaged communities create an overwhelming majority of our population, while their representation in power positions is very low, crossing political boundaries and will create a democratic awakening. However, caste census is just the first step of a long journey towards social justice. Census data should lead to extensive review of social security and reservation policies. Arbitrary border on reservation will also have to be reconsidered. As a country we also have an important opportunity to fix permanent injustice in upcoming delimitation practice. The renovation of the constituencies should be sensitive and reflected towards the census data. Special provisions should be made for adequate political representation of OBC and EBC, which are systematically excluded from the decision -making forums. Therefore, they will need to expand the state assemblies and in the Parliament of India based on proportional representation theory.
He further stated that our Constitution ordered the state to reduce economic inequalities and ensure just distribution of resources through its Directive Principles. When we know how many of our citizens belong to the deprived groups and what their economic status is, the target intervention should be designed with more accuracy.
Tejashwi further said that the private sector which has been a great beneficiary of public resources cannot remain untouched by the imperatives of social justice. Companies have benefited considerably, land, power subsidy, tax exemption, support of infrastructure and various financial incentives that are funded by the money of all taxpayers. In return, it is completely appropriate to expect them to reflect the social structure of our country. The context created by the caste census should be used to have open interactions about inclusion and diversity in the private sector in organizational hierarchy.
He further wrote in the letter, “Prime Minister, your government is now standing at a historic intersection. The decision to conduct caste census can be a transformative moment in the journey of equality of our country. The question is whether the data will be used as a catalyst for systemic reforms, or it will be limited to the dusty archives like many previous commission reports where the caste surveys opened to the dust in the form of dusty archives? Are, I assure you of creative cooperation in using the conclusions of the census for real social change.
