Congress accuses BJP of using caste census as a diversion tactic

The Central governments recent decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming national census has sparked political controversy with the Congress party accusing the BJP of using the move as a diversionary tactic rather than a step towards social justice reported news agency PTICongress General Secretary in charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh slammed the Modi government alleging that the decision lacked both genuine intent and longterm vision ldquoThis move has not come from a sincere commitment to social justice or the desire to introduce any new provisionsrdquo Ramesh said ldquoIt is merely a response to mounting public and political pressurerdquoOn Friday the Centre announced that caste details would be collected in the next national population census mdash a historic shift marking the first time since Independence that caste data will be formally recorded at the national level The announcement follows pressure from opposition parties and the public particularly after states such as Bihar Telangana and Karnataka independently conducted castebased surveysUnion Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw speaking on behalf of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs defended the decision stating that while the census is under the Centrersquos jurisdiction several states had carried out such surveys ldquonontransparentlyrdquo which had created confusion and mistrust in society reported PTIReacting sharply Ramesh accused the BJP of following a familiar pattern mdash opposing progressive policies when introduced by others and later coopting them for political advantage ldquoThe BJP has made this decision out of compulsion not convictionrdquo he said ldquoTheir goal is to distract the public from real national concerns such as the demand for decisive action after the recent terror attack in PahalgamrdquoRamesh highlighted several past instances where the BJP allegedly followed this strategy He cited the Aadhaar project which the BJP had once criticized as a privacy risk and political tool only to later adopt it as the backbone of its welfare schemes Similarly the Goods and Services Tax GST and the Direct Benefit Transfer DBT scheme mdash both launched under Congress leadership mdash were initially opposed by the BJP but later implemented with minimal changes and rebranded as flagship reformsHe also recalled Prime Minister Modirsquos earlier criticism of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MGNREGA calling it a ldquomonument of failurerdquo However during the COVID19 crisis the government expanded the program significantly to support rural workers and claimed credit for its successRamesh further mentioned the Congressrsquo Yuva Nyay apprenticeship proposal which was dismissed by the BJP during the election season Yet a similar scheme was later announced in the Union Budget ldquoSadly till today that too remains just an announcementrdquo he said A comparable situation he added occurred with cash assistance schemes for women mdash initially rejected by the BJP but later implemented under different brandingldquoThese examples reflect a consistent pattern of defaming progressive ideas only to adopt them later for political mileagerdquo Ramesh said ldquoThis government has no original vision and no genuine intent to address the countrys urgent needsrdquoConcluding his remarks Ramesh questioned the timing and seriousness of the caste census announcement ldquoWhere is the deadlinerdquo he asked accusing Prime Minister Modi of being a ldquomaster of giving a headline without a deadlinerdquo He warned that such announcements are often used to divert public attention from more pressing and sensitive national issuesWith inputs from PTIatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params