Government buckles in; to include caste in census

After a tirade by the opposition in the Lok Sabha, the government looks set to buckle in to their demand for the inclusion of caste in the national census after a gap of 79 years, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised a decision soon.

''I am aware of the views of the Members of Parliament belonging to all sections. I assure you that the cabinet will take a decision shortly,'' Singh said in a brief statement in the house on Friday.

The statement put at ease agitated opposition members, particularly the three 'other backward class' leaders - Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav.

Later, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee made an even more categorical statement: "Yes, we will include it (caste) in this census," he told reports. He added that it was not too late to add the criterion as part of the exercise rolled out on April 1. "It (the census) has just started. All we need to do is to include a column on OBC. There are already columns on General, SC / ST."

He also rebutted the suggestion that collection of data on caste would lack authenticity as people could lie about their castes.

Earlier, home minister P Chidambaram had given a more cautious reply to the debate on census. He said there were difficulties in conducting a caste-based census, but the government would keep in mind the members' views. This was angrily rejected by the Yadav trio, who had the support of a large majority in the house.