[Marxistindia] Resolution adopted at the 24th Congress of CPI(M)

[news from the cpi(m)]

Resolution

 

Conduct General Census Including Caste Census Immediately

 

The 24th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), expresses grave
concern that the decadal census, which was due in 2021, has not been held so
far. The Centre has also not extended the deadline of June 2024 to freeze
administrative boundaries which are necessary to conduct the census as per
the administrative boundaries like districts, taluk, block or village
levels.

 

The 2021 census, which should have begun in 2020, is indefinitely delayed.
The government had then stated that the census operations can be conducted
only after Covid, but even after four years, there are no signs of the
census being held. The data provided by the census enables policy planners
and administrators to design policies which cater to different sections of
people.

 

>From the time of British rule, census has been conducted every ten years
without fail. Even in 1941, during the Second World War, census was held on
a truncated basis. Census provides not only a population count, but also
comprehensive data which includes household data, cultivating classes and
agricultural workers in the rural areas. It also provides a picture of the
urban-rural population, linguistic-speaking groups and data about Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

 

Apart from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes who are enumerated in
the general census, there is no data on the Other Backward Classes. It is
necessary to have an accurate count of the various categories of Other
Backward Classes. Hence, the 24th Congress of the CPI(M) supports the demand
for a caste census.

 

A caste census will help in understanding the link between caste and
socio-economic, educational development, assess the impact of ruling class
policies and reservations for the welfare of the backward classes. The
reality of SC, ST and certain OBC caste groups who are still denied access
to resources and opportunities will come out through the caste census. The
bankrupt policies of the ruling classes and their failure in realising
social justice will be exposed.

 

By not conducting the census, the one-third reservation for women in
parliament and state legislatures provided for by the constitutional
amendment has been pushed to a distant future (at least not in 2029).

 

The government is showing no inclination to conduct a census because of its
general contempt for statistical surveys conducted on a scientific basis.
Various surveys have either been suppressed or the statistical parameters
for the survey altered to distort it. The census has become a victim of the
anti-scientific outlook of the BJP and the Hindutva forces. The data
collected in a caste census will expose the inequalities in the caste system
and puncture the Sangh Parivar's claims of an over-arching religious
identity.

 

To ensure that policy making is driven by scientific data and to ensure
justice for all oppressed sections in society, it is imperative to demand
that the much-delayed 2021 census, along with caste census be held
immediately.

 

The 24th Congress of the CPI(M) demands that the Union government
immediately conduct the general census and along with it a caste census. It
appeals to all the democratic sections in the country to support and press
this demand.

 

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