If the US can enumerate the Blacks and Indian Americans for affirmative action, why should the Indian government shirk from holding a caste census? The question was posed to the Union government by its employees belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

The employees working at various central government organisations and public sector undertakings congregated in the national capital on Thursday to demand caste census and the abolition of creamy layer for reservation benefits, two demands they consider crucial for the long-term welfare of the community. They held a protest at Jantar Mantar and conducted a seminar to sensitise the lawmakers.

All India OBC Employees’ Federation secretary G. Karunanidhi told The Telegraph that in 2020, the census questionnaire of the US Census Bureau required citizens to spell out their race.

“When the US can enumerate races as part of their census and when the enumeration of religious communities in India does not affect the secular order of our country, there is no justification in the logic that the caste census will divide the society. Caste data is a very basic requirement for planning any welfare measure for the OBCs,” he said.