GoM on caste census

May 27, 2010 - Mukesh Ranjan |

New Delhi

With the Union Cabinet continuing to remain divided on whether to include caste as a factor in the ongoing national census, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday set up a Group of Ministers to look into the politically sensitive matter.

It was almost a repeat of what the Cabinet had witnessed the last time this had been discussed, after regional party bosses like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Sharad Yadav had rocked Parliament demanding inclusion of caste in the census process.
Government sources said divergent views were expressed at the Cabinet meeting, with human resources development minister Kapil Sibal and sports minister M.S. Gill opposing inclusion of caste. Law minister M. Veerappa Moily, who favoured it, said the caste factor could easily be included in the second and third rounds of the exercise, when work on the National Population Register would begin.

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