The DMK-led government has delayed a caste survey in Tamil Nadu despite having the resources to conduct it and has instead been urging the Union Government to carry it out, alleged Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S Ramadoss on Thursday, October 26. He slammed Chief Minister MK Stalin for claiming to stand for social justice but avoiding a caste census.
At the conference which took place on Thursday, organised by the PMK to highlight the need for a caste survey, Ramadoss also alleged that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had delayed the survey previously- in 1989, 2010 and in 2021. He argued that the Collection of Statistics Act of 2008 allows the state government to carry out the exercise and that its successful culmination is significant to safeguard the reservation percentage in the state (69%). He added that he would meet the Chief Minister and press for a caste census to be conducted at the earliest.
Ramadoss further noted that the Patna High Court recently upheld the rights of a state to hold census and added that it should only encourage Tamil Nadu’s ruling party to conduct the exercise which he said will also help the government to get a clear understanding of the development of all communities.
At the event, former Advocate General of Tamil Nadu G Masilamani, former Union Ministers of the state including EM Sudarsana Natchiappan and AK Moorthy, among other PMK party members were also present at the event and they spoke in favour of conducting the survey.
On 2 October 2023, the Bihar government released a report based on the caste survey the state government conducted and it revealed that 36% of Bihar’s population consists of Extremely Backward Class (EBC) and 27.13% of the population is Other Backward Class (OBC).
The survey was conducted amidst the Opposition parties’ chorus demanding that the Modi-led Union government conduct a caste census. The last Socio Economic and Caste Census was held in India in 2011 but the findings of it have not been made public yet. Karnataka government too held a caste survey under Siddaramaiah in 2015 and eight years on, the report is yet to be published.