Ranchi, Oct 7: After Bihar, the Jharkhand government is also aiming to introduce a caste census in the state. But given the current state of political affairs before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the chances of it being introduced by Chief Minister Hemant Soren seem far less.
The caste census issue is likely to dominate the political discourse during the general elections next year, followed by the Jharkhand Assembly polls in late 2024.
Chief Minister Soren has backed the demand for entitlements to the backward social groups, including the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and the Other Backward Classes (OBC), in proportion to their population.
All the three coalition allies leading the government in Jharkhand — Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and Rastriya Janata Dal (RJD) — support the introduction of the caste-based census in the state.
The All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), which is a part of the NDA alliance, has also raised the demand for a caste census.
However, the opposition BJP has remained silent on this issue so far.
Soren has said that the issue of caste-based census was agreed upon by all parties in Jharkhand two years ago. Later, the members of the Jharkhand’s all-party delegation went to Delhi in September 2021 and submitted a letter regarding conducting a caste census in the state to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“We want the Union government to have a discussion on conducting a caste census. It was said in the letter dated September 2021 that special facilities and reservation have been provided in the Constitution for the development of socially and educationally Backward Classes,” the Jharkhand Chief Minister added.
Due to the absence of caste data in the census conducted since the country’s independence, people belonging to Backward Classes are facing difficulties in getting special facilities.
The Backward Castes and Extremely Backward Classes are not able to make the requisite progress expected, Soren said.
“In such a situation, if the caste census is not conducted now, then the educational, social, political and economic condition of the Backward Castes and Extremely Backward Classes will neither be accurately assessed, nor will proper policies related to their betterment and upliftment be determined nor will the budget will be allocated in proportion to their numbers be determined. Ninety years ago, the caste census was conducted in 1931 and on the basis of the same, the Mandal Commission recommended providing reservation to the Backward Classes.”
Jharkhand Congress President Rajesh Thakur says: “Our leader Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that different castes should get the benefit of reservation on the basis of their population. The Congress party is in favour of the caste census in the state. It is regrettable to say that the Union government is deliberately avoiding this issue so that the Backward Classes in the country do not get its benefits.”
Jharkhand Congress Legislative party leader and state Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam called the Bihar government’s initiative of introducing caste census in their state ‘commendable’ and said: “When the Central government is not implementing it (caste census) nationwide, then the state governments across the country should conduct the caste census on their own.”
When all the constituents in the ruling Jharkhand government are in favour of a caste census in their state, is the government there going to take a decision to conduct caste census like Bihar? Given the current circumstances in the state, the government does not seem to be in a position to take immediate steps in this direction.
The tenure of all the municipal bodies in Jharkhand has already been completed seven to eight years, but the state government is still in a state of indecision regarding holding local body elections.
The JMM government had decided several months ago in a cabinet meeting that Backward Classes would be given reservation in upcoming municipal elections.
The difficulty which the Soren-led Jharkhand government faces is that to decide the percentage of this caste-based reservation, the state government will have to assess the number of population of the Backward Classes in the state and their economic as well as social condition through a triple test survey.
The Jharkhand government has also authorised the formation of a Backward Classes Commission to conduct the triple test. But it has not been formed yet.
There was also a proposal to make JMM MLA Sudivya Kumar Sonu as the Chairman of the State Commission for Backward Classes Commission, but his appointment was postponed due to hurdles regarding the post of profit.
Since then, the matter has been in cold storage for the last one month.
Therefore, the Backward Classes Commission, which had to conduct a triple test survey for the reservation of Backward Classes in the upcoming civic elections, has neither a chairman nor a member which is part of the commission.
After December, the process of voter list revision, determination of booths, training of polling personnel etc. will start before the Lok Sabha elections from February 2024.
When the Lok Sabha elections conclude, preparations for the upcoming Assembly polls in Jharkhand will begin.
Therefore, under these circumstances, there is no possibility of conducting the caste census in the state till 2024-end.
The new government which will form in the state in late 2024 will depend on what its political position will be regarding the caste census in Jharkhand.
However, till then this critical issue will keep the political temperatures soaring.
