New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said backward classes will not get the representation they deserve unless the 50 per cent cap on caste-based reservations is lifted, even as he welcomed the Union Cabinet’s nod for a caste census.
“Unless this cap is lifted, backward classes are not going to get the representation they deserve,” Kharge asserted, calling the cap a major roadblock to realising the goal of social justice.
Kharge expressed dismay over the delay in the government’s response to repeated demands from the Congress. “I wrote to Narendra Modi ji on April 16, 2023. What’s the situation now? It is already 2025 — more than two and a half years have passed — and still they haven’t responded,” he said.
He noted that the issue had been raised repeatedly in Parliament and public forums, but the government failed to act. “Despite our repeated efforts, they took no action,” he added.
Kharge said Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, he himself, and the Congress party have consistently demanded three key measures: a task-based caste census, implementation of Article 15(5) to safeguard SC/ST reservations in the face of privatisation, and the removal of the 50 per cent reservation ceiling.
The Congress leader warned that as government institutions and public sector units are increasingly privatised, SCs, STs, and Other Backward Classes are losing opportunities in jobs and education, intensifying the need for stronger affirmative action. UNI
