New Delhi: In a landmark decision, the Narendra Modi-led central government has announced that a caste census will be conducted alongside the upcoming national population census.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared details of the decision on Wednesday following a Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs meeting. “The Cabinet has decided to include a caste census in the forthcoming census exercise,” Vaishnaw stated during a press briefing.

He further criticized the Congress party and previous governments for their reluctance to implement such a measure. “Since independence, caste has not been officially recorded in any census process. The Congress and earlier regimes consistently opposed the idea,” Vaishnaw said.

Highlighting past developments, the minister recalled that in 2010, the then Prime Minister had assured the Lok Sabha that the issue of caste census would be brought before the cabinet. “A committee of ministers even drafted a proposal, but despite that, no concrete action was taken. A survey was conducted only as a formality and the matter was eventually shelved,” he noted.

The inclusion of caste data in the official census is expected to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the country’s social structure, potentially informing future policy decisions and welfare schemes.