Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot
The Rajasthan government on Saturday issued an order to conduct a caste survey in the state.
The order came just days after Bihar released its caste survey results and ahead of Rajasthan’s elections due later this year.
Congress-ruled Rajasthan will be the second state in the country to conduct such a census.
The order was issued by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment after the approval of the state cabinet.
According to the order, the Rajasthan government will conduct the survey with its own resources to collect information and figures related to the social, economic and educational level of all its citizens.
Department “Planning” (Economic and Statistical) is designated as nodal department for work.
However, the order does not provide a deadline for carrying out the population census.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot told reporters that an order would be issued in this regard.
On October 2, Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar released the results of its long-awaited caste survey, which revealed that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) accounted for as much as 63 percent of the total population of the state.
A nationwide caste census is a key agenda of the opposition INDIA bloc, which it believes will help the alliance in the upcoming elections in the Hindi heartland, where caste politics play a major role.
The Congress is part of the Indian National Inclusive Development Alliance (INDIA) bloc as well as the ruling coalition in Bihar.
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First published: October 8, 2023 | 0:00 in the morning IST