Buying Book Not Enough, Have To Read It Too: Prashant Kishor On Caste Census

Election strategist-turned politician Prashant Kishor weighed in on the caste census challenge as we speak after Centre’s announcement that it could be included within the subsequent census – saying that in itself just isn’t an issue. Nor it’s a promise that possession of knowledge will instantly rectify social issues and convey equality. 

There isn’t a drawback with any form of census that offers higher details about society, he stated.  

However “you’ll not grow to be a scholar simply by shopping for a e-book, you’ll have to learn and perceive the e-book,” he stated. “The nation won’t enhance simply by doing the census. Enchancment will occur solely when the federal government works on the outcomes of the census,” he added.

“In Bihar, the caste census report stated that poor households can be given Rs 2 lakh for employment, however they haven’t obtained it until date,” he pointedly stated. Bihar was the primary state that gathered caste knowledge underneath the Grand Alliance authorities. 

On April 21, Mr Kishor’s Jan Suraaj social gathering, which is collaborating within the Bihar state election, demanded that the Nitish Kumar authorities launch a white paper on the motion taken on the premise of the caste survey carried out within the state in January 2023.

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who introduced the caste census in Delhi earlier as we speak after a cupboard assembly, dismissed the surveys in Bihar and elsewhere, saying it was a ruse to pacify voters. 

The federal government’s massive announcement forward of the meeting election in Bihar – due by the top of this yr – has whipped up political commotion, with the BJP and the Opposition INDIA bloc speeding to take credit score. 

The Opposition has identified {that a} caste census has been their long-standing demand and given the approaching meeting election in Bihar, the federal government has fallen in it with it. 

“On demanding caste census, those that referred to as us ‘casteists’ bought a befitting reply. There may be nonetheless quite a bit left. We’ll preserve these Sanghis dancing to our agenda,” stated Rashtriya Janata Dal patriarch Lalu Yadav. 

Samajwadi Get together chief Akhilesh Yadav referred to as it a “victory” of the INDIA bloc. 

Mr Vaishnaw has slammed the Opposition accusing it of utilizing the caste census demand like a “political software”.