THE Hindu , 20 sept 2010 : JAIPUR: Activists spearheading a campaign against the caste-basedcensus here on Sunday opposed the Union Government’s decision to collect the caste data in a separate exercise in June next year fearing that it would encourage “reservation politics” and give rise to renewed demands for splitting the quota for sub-castes.
Academicians, former judges and social activists deliberating on the issue at a symposium organised by Nagrik Parishad here received support from veteran Hindi journalist Ved Pratap Vedik, who has launched “Sabal Bharat” and “Meri Jati Hindustani” (my caste is Indian) campaigns against the caste-based census.
Mr. Vedik, addressing the gathering at the Arya Samaj headquarters here, said the collection of caste data as a stand-along exercise without its integration with the figures of socio-economic and educational status would fail to serve the objective of bringing the backward and marginalised sections of population to the mainstream of development.
“The caste-based reservation has already outlived its utility as an affirmative action,” said Mr. Vedik and added that the Union Government was making a mistake by trying to reconstruct the society “on wrong notions” through the caste-based headcount.
Detrimental
Mr. Vedik – former Editor of PTI-Bhasha – regretted that the majority of political leaders cutting across the party lines were supporting the caste-based enumeration without paying heed to its “detrimental consequences” and strengthening the politics based on caste numbers and probably leading to the demands to amend the Supreme Court ceiling of 50 per cent on reservation.
“The veteran journalist said the target of his campaigns was to reach out to at least 5-crore people of civil society before the caste census and persuade them to provide their caste as “Hindustani” to the enumerators. He said the caste headcount was similar to the “imposition” of English language on the country’s schooling system which had deprived marginalised children of the gains of modern education.
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