New Delhi:The PMK, a Tamil Nadu-based political party, Monday urged the central government to make the population census of 2011 based on caste, which it said, would provide data on the literacy, health and economic status of each community. At a national seminar, The Need for Caste wise Census in India from 2011 here, the PMK said it was necessary to collect household data on caste basis so that the government can have a fair idea of the size of population of each community of India.

"Caste-wise census can help the government to implement the policy of reservation in the private sector," said PMK founder president S. Ramadoss at the seminar. "Secondly, caste-wise break up of the population will facilitate cross clarification with various social, economic, cultural and demographic characteristics and thus provide a wealth of data on the levels achieved by each community in various indices like literacy and education, work characteristics, age at marriage, fertility, infant and child mortality and death rate," Ramadoss added.

"The caste-wise census would also help the government to know the backwardness, inadequate representation in services and overall efficiency of each caste," he further said. Such a census would lend clarity to the contentious issue on keeping out the creamy layer among Other Backward Classes (OBC) from the purview of reservation, and a caste-wise census would go a long way in streamlining OBC reservation. "The population figures of various castes are also required to be collected for the purpose of reserving seats in legislatures for them," Ramadoss said.

Several hundred people participated in the seminar. The statistics relating to caste-wise population would help the government determine various policies designed to accelerate the socio-economic development of various groups. The PMK s MP M. Ramadass was also present at the seminar.

Source : IANS