New Delhi [India], June 16 (ANI): Congress leader Supriya Shrinate on Monday said that complete 'absence' of the term caste census in the government's gazette notification issued for 16th Census has raised questions over the mindset of the BJP on this subject.

Speaking to ANI, Shrinate recalled that the government had earlier promised that a caste census will conducted by them.

'Census is a decadal exercise and it has been delayed which is why people are not able to get the benefits of government schemes. This is a routine notification. There is no mention of the caste census here, a promise that the government said would be fulfilled on April 30,' Shrinate said.

Asserting that BJP has always opposed the idea of caste-based reservations, Shrinate pointed out that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge have forced the government to conduct a caste census.

'BJP should be the last one talking about the SC/ST and OBC as they have historically been against the constitution... Pt. Nehru brought the first amendment to the constitution about reservation, but it was opposed by Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee... RSS Chiefs opposed the reservations... This government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in September 2021 saying we are against the Caste Census,' she said.

Earlier today, Congress General Secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over 'no mention' of caste census in the gazette notification for the population census by the Ministry of Home Affairs, asking, 'Has the Prime Minister changed his mind?'

'Today's gazette notification says only census will be done in late October of 2026 in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal and the rest of the country it will be done in March 2027. It does not talk of the word caste census. So my question is, has the Prime Minister changed his mind again? Why is there no mention of the caste census?' the senior Congress leader said while speaking to ANI.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a notification on Monday announcing that the 16th census will be carried out in snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand from October 2026 and the rest of the country from March 2027.

'In exercise of the powers conferred by Section three of the Census Act 1948 and in suppression of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Home Affairs dated March 26, 2018, the Central Government declared that a census of the population of India shall be taken during the year 2027,' the MHA notification read.

The reference date for the census shall be March 1, 2027, except for the Union territory of Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

On April 30, Union Minister Ashiwni Vaishnaw announced that the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided to include caste enumeration in the general census. (ANI)