New Delhi: A day after the Union Government announced that it would conduct a caste census across India, Congress General Secretary in Charge of Communication Jairam Ramesh slammed the Centre for not providing details regarding the assurance. The Congress leader questioned the intention of the government while demanding that the census should be done as soon as possible.

Speaking to the media, the Congress Rajya Sabha MP alleged that the “Prime Minister is an expert at giving headlines without deadlines,” suggesting that the government has not provided a roadmap or deadline for completing the caste census. He said it is well known to everyone that six years have passed since the last census was held.

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“In 2025-26, the census commissioner’s office in the Home Ministry, which has been given the responsibility of conducting the caste census, was allocated Rs 575 crore in the budget. But on 24 December 2019, PM Narendra Modi’s government said that Rs 8254 crore is required for the national census,” Ramesh was heard saying in a video shared by news agency ANI. 

#WATCH | Delhi | On Centre’s decision to conduct caste census, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh says, “Like Rahul Gandhi said yesterday, ‘headline toh de diya, lekin deadline kaha hai? Our PM is an expert in giving headlines without deadlines… In 2025-26, the census commissioner’s… pic.twitter.com/g5kYM4hOVK

— ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2025

The Congress leader then asked, “So, what is the purpose and the intent? Only a headline?” He slammed the government, asking what is stopping the ruling dispensation from removing the barrier of the 50 percent cap on reservations. He demanded that there should be a Constitutional Amendment and the 50 percent cap on reservations be removed, while adding that the caste census would be meaningful only when this is done.

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Ramesh pointed out that the government should have done the census in 2021. “They cite the Covid pandemic but more than 50 countries did their census during Covid. The pandemic was not there in 2023 or 2024, but they did not get it done,” the Congress leader said. The Congress leader also recalled an interview of the Prime Minister in which the latter purportedly called those who talk about the caste census as urban naxals.

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has credited the government’s announcement on the caste census to the Congress party’s sustained campaign. The Congress leader also welcomed the government’s “sudden” decision while demanding that the Centre should give a timeline for its implementation.