New Delhi, May 6
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to have a dialogue with all political parties soon on the issue of the caste census.
Kharge shared the letter on his X handle on Tuesday.
In the May 5 letter, Kharge has put forth his three suggestions for the PM’s consideration on the issue of caste census.
The first point says the design of the census questionnaire is crucial. “The Union Home Ministry must draw upon the Telangana model - both the methodology adopted for finalizing the questionnaire, as well the final set of questions asked.”
The second point says, “Whatever the results of the caste census will be, it is abundantly clear that the arbitrarily imposed 50% ceiling on reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs must be removed by a Constitutional amendment.”
The third point says, “Article 15(5) was introduced in the Constitution of India with effect from 20th January 2006. This was subsequently challenged in the Supreme Court. Finally, it was upheld by the Supreme Court after prolonged deliberations on 29th January 2014, very shortly before the model code of conduct for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections went into effect.”
Kharge said the Article “provides for reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs in private educational institutions as well. This should be implemented.”