Patna: Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly Tejashwi Yadav has written a letter to 33 senior leaders of the country seeking their support on the issue of the caste-census, which has received a cold shoulder from the Central government.
Recently, the central government told the Supreme Court that caste census of Backward Classes is “administratively difficult and cumbersome" and excluding such information from the purview of Census is a "conscious policy decision"
Earlier, Yadav has said that he would wait for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's response to the Central government's decision. Meanwhile, on Saturday, he dashed off letters to 33 recipients seeking their response on the issue.
In his letter Yadav terming Centre callous said, “Caste system which Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, referred to as a system of graded inequality, has been a great source of disadvantage for a significantly large section of the population over decades. Although caste plays such a discriminatory role in our socio-economic life and confines privileges into only a few hands, no reliable and wide-ranging data is available for more than fifty percent of our population,”
He further added in the letter, "The demand for caste-based census needs to be seen as an essential step in nation-building. The caste census once conducted would actually bring to the forefront the pressing concerns that a country like India must attend to with a sense of urgency. This is a historic opportunity before us to push for an agenda that is essential for making this country more just and egalitarian. It would play a pivotal role in ensuring social harmony and social cohesion,"
Read: Lalu flays BJP-RSS for not conducting caste census of backward classes
Concluding his letter, Tejashwi said, "I am sure you will agree with me that we need to join our hands and push the government of the day to see this absolutely crucial need to set the priorities of the socio-economic development of our country. I am open to suggestions and inputs from you so that we immediately prepare our plan of action in this regard without any further delay."
Yadav has shot off letters to politicians as diverse as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, NCP national president Sharad Pawar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik CPI leader D Raja, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury besides former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah, Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samajwadi Party supremo Mayawati, AIADMK coordinator O Panreerselvam, Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan and others.
Read: Caste Census of backward classes administratively difficult: Govt to SC
