Congress slams Modi govt's 'unwarranted' delay in conducting census
Congress said it was highly disappointing finance minister's budget speech made no mention of releasing funds for census; seriously hurting many social policies
The Congress on Thursday attacked the Modi government’s continuing failure to conduct the decadal population census which was due in 2021 and said this was seriously hurting many social policies and programmes.
"This unwarranted delay in conducting the decadal Census … is hurting many social policies and programmes including reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, and food security entitlements," party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X.
Finance minister flayed
The Congress said it was highly disappointing that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech made no mention of releasing funds for the census.
Ramesh had said this meant that the government will continue to avoid a socio-economic caste census too.
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Affecting government policies
This is the first time since India’s independence that the government has failed to conduct a census on time, he said.
"The consequences on the state's administrative capabilities are serious,” the Congress said.
It cited as example that 10-12 crore individuals have been excluded from the ambit of the National Food Security Act/Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.