Union minister Ramdas Athawale has expressed that his Republican Party of India (A) supports conducting a caste census in the country and believes a method should be found to implement it.
Speaking to reporters in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, Athawale also emphasized that there should be no malpractices in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and mentioned that the education ministry is taking all necessary steps to prevent future malpractices in the exam.
He noted that Article 17 of the Constitution, which aims to abolish caste discrimination, has created challenges for governments in conducting a caste-based census.
“My party demands that some way should be found because once the caste-based census is done, we will know the percentage of every caste in the population,” stated the minister of state for social justice and empowerment.
Athawale further mentioned that if future decisions involve extending reservation benefits to every caste based on their population, his party would not oppose it, acknowledging that poverty exists across all castes.
Criticizing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Athawale said, “I want to ask Gandhi that when the Congress was in power at the Centre, why was the caste census not conducted?”
The RPI(A) leader predicted that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will secure 170 to 180 seats out of 288 in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections in October.
“Not the issue of Constitution but the issue of development will work in the Maharashtra elections. We will rectify the mistakes committed (in the Lok Sabha elections) and enter the electoral fray,” he added.