Ahead of the upcoming elections, the Rajasthan government on Saturday issued an order to conduct a caste survey in the state.
The order was issued by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment after the state cabinet’s nod, and the Department of Planning (Economic and Statistics) has been made the nodal department for the work.
The Congress-led state is the second state after Bihar to conduct a caste census.
The order stated that the Rajasthan government will conduct the survey with its own resources for collecting information and figures related to social, economic and educational level of all its citizens.
Sharing a copy of the order for caste survey on its official X account, the ruling party said, “The Congress government of Rajasthan will conduct a caste-based survey. Congress is working on its resolution of ‘whoever participates, so does his participation’.”
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot told reporters that an order would be issued in this regard.
“We will conduct a survey. The order for this will be released immediately. It will be a survey. Census is done by the Government of India. It cannot be done by the state government. This is will be a survey of families to know their economic situation. This is our party’s commitment that we are taking forward,” Gehlot told reporters.
He also added that such surveys take time, while saying that Rajasthan will follow Bihar’s model.
“It took one-and-a-half years in Bihar. We have taken a decision for a survey, which is a big thing. AICC (All India Congress Committee) in its Raipur convention had made a decision and we are taking it forward. We want that the economic status of every family should be known so that they get the benefits of government schemes in the future,” he said.
Meanwhile, the BJP has criticised the state government over the caste census saying it is only the Centre that can do it.
“The right to do caste based-census is in the central list of the Constitution. In the name of survey, CM (Ashok Gehlot) has issued an order (of caste survey in Rajasthan), whereas all the machinery is busy with election work. He already knows that now these machinery can’t be used for any other purpose,” said Rajasthan BJP leader Rajendra Rathore.