New Delhi [India], April 30 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday extended his support to the Cabinet decision approving caste enumeration in the forthcoming census, saying the move will transform social justice and data-based good governance into reality.

In a post on X, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said, 'The decision of CCPA under the leadership of Honorable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji to include caste census in the upcoming census in the overall interest of 140 crore countrymen is unprecedented and welcome.'

The UP CM said that this is a decisive initiative towards giving the deprived, backward and neglected classes their proper recognition and fair participation in government schemes.

'Heartfelt gratitude to the respected Prime Minister, under whose leadership the BJP government has taken this historic decision to transform social justice and data-based good governance into reality,' he added.

https://x.com/myogiadityanath/status/1917566105012560341

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also lauded the decision, terming it a revolutionary step towards ensuring social equality, respect and justice.

'Congress opposed caste census for decades and always tried to shine its politics on this issue. The biggest example of this is that a caste census was never conducted to date after independence. Congress used them only as a vote bank by promoting division among castes,' the Uttarakhand CM said in a post on X.

'Today, under the leadership of the respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji, the Central Government has taken a historic decision, in which caste census will be included in the census process. This decision is not only an important step towards bringing the backward classes of the society into the mainstream but it is also a revolutionary step towards ensuring social equality, respect and justice,' he added.

https://x.com/pushkardhami/status/1917565416299278456

In a significant decision, the government on Wednesday decided that caste enumeration will be included in the forthcoming census.

Briefing the media about the decisions taken by the Union Cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that some states have done caste surveys and conducting a census is in the domain of the central government.

He said that the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) has decided today that caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census.

Vaishnaw alleged that Congress governments 'have always opposed caste census'.

'Caste was not included in all the census operations conducted since independence. In 2010, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singhji had assured the Lok Sabha that the matter of caste census would be considered in the cabinet. A group of ministers was formed to consider this subject. Most political parties recommended a caste census. Despite this, the Congress government decided to conduct only a survey of caste instead of a census. That survey is known as SECC,' Vaishnaw said. (ANI)