New Delhi:
Bowing to demands by several political parties, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the inclusion of caste in census.
After several deliberations within the government on the politically-sensitive issue, the Union Cabinet decided to carry out a separate house-to-house caste enumeration from June to September next year. Respondents will be at liberty not to answer the questions.
"After considering various options, the option that we have approved is, based on the responses of various political parties, that caste must be canvassed and the integrity of the headcount must not be affected," Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters while briefing on the decisions of the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The caste enumeration will be conducted in a phased manner after the population enumeration, which will include biometric capture and headcount, is completed by March next year, he said.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had told the Lok Sabha recently that all political parties had supported the idea of including caste in census and there was no need for any "apprehensions" over the issue.
His statement had come after leaders of BJP, JD(U), BSP and Samajwadi Party wanted to know as to what happened to the government's promise to carry out a caste census. (With PTI inputs)
After several deliberations within the government on the politically-sensitive issue, the Union Cabinet decided to carry out a separate house-to-house caste enumeration from June to September next year. Respondents will be at liberty not to answer the questions.
"After considering various options, the option that we have approved is, based on the responses of various political parties, that caste must be canvassed and the integrity of the headcount must not be affected," Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters while briefing on the decisions of the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The caste enumeration will be conducted in a phased manner after the population enumeration, which will include biometric capture and headcount, is completed by March next year, he said.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had told the Lok Sabha recently that all political parties had supported the idea of including caste in census and there was no need for any "apprehensions" over the issue.
His statement had come after leaders of BJP, JD(U), BSP and Samajwadi Party wanted to know as to what happened to the government's promise to carry out a caste census. (With PTI inputs)
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
