VIRUDHUNAGAR: Highlighting the shortcomings of open ended questions in the caste census, TNCC president and Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore on Tuesday said the party will cover ten major cities across Tamil Nadu and include public meetings and interactive discussions and campaign from September 17 over the shortcomings of the open ended method and promote drop down method for collecting reliable social justice data.
He alleged that the BJP government was working to prevent backward class communities from securing genuine representation and to keep the actual OBC population figures from being made public. The campaign will begin in the presence of AICC general secretary and TN in charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir and Dravidar Kazhagam president K Veeramani.
In a statement, Tagore noted that Modi government had deferred the caste census citing reasons related to delimitation and has now introduced an open ended question for collecting caste details for the SC/OBC lists, claiming that there is no comprehensive list of OBC communities. "This was part of a deliberate strategy to prevent backward communities from securing their rightful share in power and to ensure that their actual population is not revealed," he alleged.
According to Tagore, the Modi government continues to withhold details of the caste census and corporate loan write off. "Though the Supreme Court had issued its verdict on the disclosure of wilful defaulters as early as 2015, public sector banks, including the RBI and Bank of Baroda have refused to disclose the names of corporate borrowers who failed to repay loans despite directions. Of the Rs 35,716 crore in corporate loans written off, only 28 percent has been recovered," he claimed.
The second phase of the population census is primarily aimed at collecting caste related details and is sensitive due to its potential social impact. "While defined lists are available for SC and ST communities, why OBC details were being collected through an open ended method instead of a predefined list," he questioned
Reacting to the Left parties contesting independently in the upcoming bypolls, Tagore said he could not comment on their decision. However, he said he is surprised that the parties that had extended their support to the government in the Assembly were now contesting the bypolls independently.