Committed to caste census, discrimination in country probably worst: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said caste discrimination in the country is probably among the worst in the world and that caste census is the first thing to be taken up to address the issueAddressing a meeting organised by Telangana Congress on the caste survey to be undertaken by the state government from November 6 he said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he is fully committed to ensuring caste census in Telangana and in making the state a model for caste census in the countryHe said there could be some shortcomings in the state governments caste survey and these will be sorted outThe Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said he had committed in Parliament on behalf of Congress to conduct a national caste census and to demolish the artificial barrier of 50 per cent reservations in the countryWhat we have to understand is that discrimination in India is unique and probably among the worst in the world he saidTaking potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi he said he wondered why the PM has not publicly said he wants to challenge the idea of discrimination in IndiaWhy is the PM scared of asking how many Dalits OBCs Adivasis are there in corporates judiciary and media Gandhi askedI am not saying something very controversial I am just saying that everybody accepts that there is caste discrimination in this country Let us now find out the true extent of caste discrimination he saidThe BJP and PM Modi accuse him of dividing the country when he talks about the need for caste census he saidHow come revealing the truth of this country amounts to dividing the country he askedGandhi favoured conducting the caste census to know how many Dalits OBCs Adivasis minorities general castes and women are there and how is wealth distributed in the countryHe thanked Telangana Congress leadership for its initiative in conducting the caste surveyHe did not favour a bureaucratic caste census designed by officials but want the Dalits OBCs and others to decide the questions to be askedWhat is being designed as part of the caste census is not just a survey but a system of governance for the future of the country he saidGandhi also said that his party wants to develop a framework of progress and development for the country with caste census exerciseReferring to a conversation he had with an expert on the economy on the subject of inequalities in India Gandhi however said the experts analysis did not include casteHe stressed the need to identify discrimination to achieve progress and happiness for peopleThe state government has begun the exercise to conduct the comprehensive socio educational economic employment political and caste survey as per the promise made by Rahul Gandhi before last years Assembly pollsThe survey will commence on WednesdayTelangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy his Cabinet colleagues PCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud and other leaders participatedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever