Rahul Gandhi: Congress will remove 50% bar on caste-based reservation

Allahabad: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that his demand for a caste census was directly linked to protecting the Constitution of the country.

Addressing the Samvidaan Samaan Sammelan here, Gandhi said, the caste census was his mission and he was prepared to pay even a political price for that.

‘Caste census important for 90% population’

Gandhi said that the caste census was directly linked with the protection of the Constitution. He observed that it aims at providing rightful due to the 90 per cent of the country’s population. He said, if a large section of the population does not get their due, the Constitution could not be saved and protected.

He said, the caste census was not merely about counting people, but identifying the level of participation and the control of the country’s resources.

The senior Congress leader maintained that even after 70 years of adaption of the Constitution, 90 per cent of the country’s population was still marginalised and had virtually no say or participation in the corporate world, media and not much in judiciary also.

Asserting that the caste census was not merely about counting people, Gandhi said, it was a policy framework for the Congress party. He said, apart from caste census, he also aims for socio-economic and institutional surveys in the country.

Equitable wealth distribution

He said, his vision was that wealth should be properly distributed among people and not among 5 or 10 per cent people of the country. He said, he wanted the Dalits, the backwards and the Adivasis should also have equal participation and say in the country’s affairs and control over its resources.

He said, the aim is to find out how much impact has the Constitution made in the last 70 years. He pointed out, there was virtually no presence or participation of the 90 per cent population in corporate India, media or other institutions.

Gandhi said, it was important for the progress of the country that everyone is taken along. He gave the example of cylinders in the engine of a vehicle. “I want all the ten engines and not just one, to work,” he remarked amid a thumping applause from the audience.

Congress will do away with the 50% bar on reservations

The senior Congress leader also reiterated that the 50 per cent bar on reservations was not acceptable to him, suggesting that representation and participation should be on the basis of the proportion and percentage of the population. He said, his party would do away with the 50 per cent bar on the reservations.

He alleged that the BJP government was trying to do away with the reservation by way of lateral entry and contractual appointments. He said, they were attacking the reservation from all sides, from top to bottom.

with inputs from PTI