Amid bouts of heckling, Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi joined the debate on the Women’s Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha. He demanded that the Union government implement the Bill immediately and added, “Conduct the caste census immediately. And release the data of the caste census we had done immediately too. If you don’t, we will.” A Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) — also called the 2011 caste census — was conducted by the Manmohan Singh-led Union government, and was not published either by the United Progressive Alliance-led (UPA) government nor the two consecutive National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governments.
Rahul Gandhi also said, “There are two other things that seem strange to me. One is the idea that you require a new census to implement this Bill. The second is that you need new delimitation to implement this Bill. It can be implemented today by giving 33% of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies to India’s women”, Rahul Gandhi.
He also highlighted issues of representation in the Bill. “There is one thing in my view that makes this Bill incomplete. I would have liked to have seen OBC reservation included in this Bill. I think it is very important that a large chunk of India’s women should have access to reservation. That is missing in this Bill,” he said.
In this regard, Rahul Gandhi further added, “One of the things that the government likes to distract everyone from is Adani. Another thing is the caste census. For some reason, the moment the Opposition raises the issue of the caste census, the BJP tries to create a new distraction. So that the OBC [Other Backward Class] community and the people of India, look the other way.”
Regarding OBC representation in government, Rahul also said, “I researched various institutions. I checked who are the most important people in the Government of India—the people who, beyond the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas, define how this country is governed. They are the 90 secretaries of the Government of India. They are responsible for managing the core of the Government of India. How many of these 90 people come from the OBC community? I was shocked and shattered by the answer. Narandra Modi is the Prime Minister, he works for the OBCs. Among the 90 secretaries there are 3 who are OBC. These OBC secretaries control only 5% of India’s budget. This is an insult to the OBC community of India.”
Ending his speech, Rahul Gandhi said, “How many OBCs are there in India? How many Dalits? How many Adivasis? The answer to that question can come only from the caste census. My demand to the government is to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill today. There is no need for the delimitation and caste census clause. Just give them the 33%. Conduct the caste census immediately. Release the caste census we had done immediately. If you don’t, we will.”
He also took a dig at the Union government for failing to invite President Droupadi Murmu to the new Parliament building. “This is a nice building. There are nice peacock feathers on the ground and on the chairs. But frankly I would have liked to see the President of India in this building. The President of India is a woman. She represents the tribal community. It would have been befitting to have her visible in this transfer from one House to another.”
It may be noted that earlier this year, during the inauguration of the new Parliament building in May, nineteen Opposition parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and others, boycotted the event, protesting that it is inappropriate for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lead the inauguration instead of President Droupadi Murmu. The Union government decision not to invite her was also seen as a sidelining of India’s first Adivasi president.