RSS against caste-based census: General Secretary

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) said on Sunday that nationality provision should be the basis in the ongoing national census and not caste.

"The RSS is following the principles of late Dalit leader BR Ambedkar. Right from the beginning, RSS is in favour of a casteless society and any attempt to dilute it will hurt the sentiments of people," RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi told reporters in Nagpur.

RSS has been striving to build a casteless society, he said.

"There is no provision for identifying and separating illegal migrants in the country while preparing the National Population Register (NPR). This will prove to be a threat to the national security and integrity," he said.

According to him, preparation of a multi-utility identity card on the basis of NPR will be incorrect. "Therefore, RSS demands that identity cards be issued only after verification of nationality and the nationality provision should be the basis for NPR," Joshi said.

He said government should fix some criteria for giving reservation to other backward communities (OBCs). "There should not be any hurry and government should initiate a national debate on it. There needs to be a dialogue with various social groups in this regard," he said.

When his attention was drawn towards BJP's demand for inclusion of a provision of OBC category in the national census records to identify OBC population, Joshi evaded a direct reply saying it was for the BJP to decide.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had recently said that the Cabinet will shortly take a decision on whether caste-based census should be undertaken or not.