“Central govt against benefits of poor in Bihar”: JDU leader Vijay Chaudhary on caste census

Patna (Bihar) [India], August 29 (ANI): Janata Dal-United (JDU) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary has slammed the Central government on filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court against Bihar’s government decision to conduct caste-based census in the state.

The Finance Minister of Bihar, Vijay Chaudhary was addressing a press conference at the party’s office when he said “Patna High court also stands with the idea of Bihar government’ of caste-based census. The central government is interfering in the matter. What the Central Government has done in the matter of caste census in the Supreme Court is not only comical, but it also stands against the benefits of the poor in Bihar.”

The Central government on Monday, in its affidavit said that only it is entitled to conduct census, in its reply to the Supreme Court on the Bihar government’s caste-based survey.

“Census is the work of Central government. We are doing the caste-based survey, not the census, even the high court allows it. It is totally different exercise from the census. Why central government is not clearing whether they are in favour of it or against it? Even BJP is silent on this they have to clear their stand on it,” Vijay Kumar Chaudhary added.

“Census is a statutory process and is governed by the Census Act, 1948. The subject of the census is covered in the Union List under Entry 69 in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution,” the Office of the Registrar General, Home Ministry, said in a two-page affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court.

The affidvait further said in the penultimate paragraph that “no other body is entitled to conduct the exercise of either census or any action akin to the census”.

Reacting to it, Bihar Deputy CM, Tejashwi Yadav also took a swipe at the centre and said “They have no knowledge. They only know how to lie and suppress the truth. They have opposed it even in the affidavit. It has been made clear that the BJP does not want it and is opposing it.”

He further said that the Centre should conduct a caste census across the country if it supports it.

“If they support it, then they should conduct it (caste census) across the country,” he added.