Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the government's caste census decision, urging him to draw upon the Telangana model as well as have a dialogue with all political parties soon on this issue.
In his letter to Modi, Kharge has also urged the prime minister to remove the 50 percent cap on reservation by a constitutional amendment and immediately implement Article 15(5), providing for reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs in private educational institutions.
"Conducting any exercise such as the caste census, which gives the backward, the oppressed, and the marginalized sections of our society their rights, cannot and should not be considered divisive in any way," Kharge said.
"Our great nation and our large-hearted people have always come together as one whenever needed, just as we have done after the recent cowardly terrorist attacks in Pahalgam," he said in his letter to Modi dated May 5.
The Congress believes that conducting the caste census in the comprehensive manner is absolutely necessary to ensure social and economic justice and equality of status and opportunity as pledged in the Preamble of our Constitution, Kharge said.
The Congress president recalled that he had also written to the prime minister on April 16, 2023, putting forward the Congress' demand for an up-to-date caste census.
"Regrettably, I never received any reply to this letter. Unfortunately, your party leaders and yourself went on to attack the Congress and its leadership for raising this legitimate demand, which you today acknowledge is in the interests of deeper social justice and empowerment," Kharge said in his letter to the PM.
"You have now announced, without providing any details, that the next census (which was actually due in 2021) will include caste as a separate category as well," he noted.
Kharge said he has three suggestions to make, with the first one being about the design of the census questionnaire.
Caste information has to be collected not for counting purposes but for achieving larger socio-economic objectives, Kharge pointed out.
"The recently concluded Telangana caste survey was designed and implemented with such goals in mind. The Union Home Ministry must draw upon the Telangana model--both the methodology adopted for finalizing the questionnaire and the final set of questions asked," Kharge said.
Nothing in the report published finally should be concealed so that complete socio-economic data of each caste is made available to provide them their constitutionally enabled rights and the socio-economic progress can be measured from one census to another, he said.
Kharge also pointed out that only the Tamil Nadu reservations law has been protected in the Ninth Schedule of our Constitution since August 1994.
Laws of other states should also be included in the Ninth Schedule of our Constitution, he said.
Moreover, whatever the results of the caste census will be, it is abundantly clear that the arbitrarily imposed 50% ceiling on reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and OBCs must be removed by a constitutional amendment, Kharge asserted.
The Congress president also called for immediate implementation of Article 15(5).
"Article 15(5) was introduced in the Constitution of India with effect from 20th January 2006. This was subsequently challenged in the Supreme Court. Finally, it was upheld by the Supreme Court after prolonged deliberations on 29 January, 2014, very shortly before the model code of conduct for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections went into effect," he said.
Kharge pointed out that it provides for reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and OBCs in private educational institutions as well.
"In its 364th Report on the Demand for Grants for the Department of Higher Education, submitted on 25th March 2025, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports had also recommended new legislation to implement Article 15(5)," he said.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, had been demanding a nationwide caste census, making it a major election issue. Some states, like Bihar, Telangana, and Karnataka, have conducted such surveys.
Sharing Kharge's letter on X, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said, "Following the CWC meeting on May 2nd, the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge ji wrote to the PM last night on Mr. Modi's sudden and desperate U-turn on the caste census - even as the nation's anguish and anger at the brutal Pahalgam terror attacks continued unabated." "Kharge ji has made three very specific suggestions," he said. '
