Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday fired a series of questions and accusations towards the ruling government. Jairam Ramesh demands census updates from the Modi government, insisting that they include data on the population of the OBC categorised community. According to him, this will give a "true meaning" to social justice preserved in the Constitution.

The Congress leader emphasized the importance of a comprehensive census in promoting the socioeconomic development of the country. The census, which is supposed to be conducted every decade by the Union government, is still pending, as it was scheduled for 2021 but was postponed. It should be noted that 2011 was the last time a census was conducted in India.

Jairam Ramesh demands census
Image Source: ICA Institute

"One immediate consequence of not having Census 2021 conducted is that at least 14 crore Indians are being deprived of benefits under the National Food Security Act, 2013, repackaged as PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana," the Congress leader said.

Further demanding a response from the PM he said, "The 'one-third' prime minister has to tell the country soon when the updated census will be conducted."

Previously on Saturday, he took a dig at PM Modi calling him one-third PM as he wouldn't have become the PM without the support of Nitish Kumar & Chandrababu Naidu.

He stated that, since 1951, the decennial Census has offered population data concerning Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. He further stressed that the next census should also include population data for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

"This will give true meaning to social justice enshrined in our republic's Constitution that has just been saved by the people from an assault on it by Mr Modi, his cheerleaders, and drumbeaters," he added.

You might also be interested in - Geniben Thakor, who ended Congress’s Gujarat drought, utilized crowdsourcing for her campaign