“Speak Less, Hear and Understand More”

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi rolled out his East to West ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ from Manipur in the North-East on January 14. It is set to cover 6,713 km in 66 days, across 110 districts in 15 States, touching 100 Lok Sabha constituencies.

The Yatra is set to conclude in Mumbai on March 20. This is said to be the ‘single-biggest ever’ Yatra in India. It is a sequel to the 4,000-km-long ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ Gandhi undertook from Kanyakumari to Kashmir from September 7, 2022, to January 30, 2023.

The only difference between the two Yatras is that Bharat Jodo Yatra all along remained a ‘Padyatra’ or footmarch, while Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is basically a Bus Yatra, but, has different elements like a Padayatra for 8-9 km, interaction with Civil Society leaders, and addressing at least two public rallies.

According to Gandhi, this Yatra is not for him to speak his ‘Mann ki Baat’, but, it is meant to hear the ‘Mann ki Baat’ of the people, to know their problems and understand their conditions. To speak less and hear more and understand more about the people is the main purpose of this journey.

Since the 390-km-long Dandi March of Mahatma Gandhi, from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to the coastal village of Dandi in Gujarat, from March 12 to April 6, 1930, no other Yatra has raised such hopes and expectations, like the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

Given the all-round social injustice, economic injustice and political injustice, this Yatra seems to have struck a chord among the common people, who seem to look up to it with expectations.

On the eve of the rolling out of the Nyay Yatra, the former Chairman of the Nation Commission for Backward Classes, Justice V. Eswaraiah, called on Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi. Justice Eswaraiah, who is also a former Chief Justice of the Undivided Andhra Pradesh High Court, extended the support of all BC Institutions in Telangana for this Yatra.

Justice Eswaraiah backed Rahul Gandhi on his decision to go in for a Caste Census. This is seen as the only way to transfer power into the hands of the really backward, downtrodden, vulnerable and weaker sections of society.

Rahul Gandhi had pointed out how, out of the 90 Secretary-level officers, who control the levers of power, only three are from OBCs, controlling a meagre five percent of the budgetary allocations. Despite their population being over 50 percent, their actual participation in the Government and in the governance processes is negligible. This is grave political injustice, which needs to be rectified.

During his meeting with Rahul Gandhi, Justice Eswaraiah said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has created 10 percent Reservation for the Forward Castes without any Caste Census. But, in the case of BC Reservation, the Modi Government is dragging its feet, which, too, is grave injustice.

Justice Eswaraiah pointed out that BCs are not getting the benefits of Reservation made for them and given the latest figures, may need to be raised. This is the main issue.

Now that the Congress has won the Assembly elections and come to power in Telangana, Justice Eswaraiah urged Rahul Gandhi that the party should carry out the Caste Census in the State, without any delay. According to him, if this is done, then it will send out a message across the country that the Congress is the only party to be trusted.

Congress leader Madhu Yashki Goud said that the BC Federation and other organisations have also decided to support I.N.D.I.A. Coalition in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The P. V. Narasimha Rao Government had carved out a sub-quota of 4.5 percent Reservation for Minorities, as defined under Section 2 (C) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, namely, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhist and Zoroastrians (Parsis), from within the 27 percent Reservation for OBCs in Civil Posts and Services under the Government of India and admission to Central Educational Institutions.

When in Undivided Andhra Pradesh, the Congress Government under Dr. Y. S. Rajashekhar Reddy provided for 4 percent Reservations for the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes among Muslims, the seven-Judge Bench of the High Court had struck it down. But, when the Congress Government had gone on Special Leave Petition (SLP) to the Supreme Court, the Apex Court upheld the Reservation.

The Supreme Court Bench had observed that, "The Government is of the view that certain sections of the Muslim community are socially and educationally backward. What is wrong in it? It is only a question as to how you identify them. It is not a question as to whether they are Hindus or Muslims, but the question is social and educational backwardness.”

The then Attorney-General G. E. Vahanvati argued in the Supreme Court that the High Court did not properly apply its mind while passing the judgement, as it failed to consider the fact that identification of the most Backward groups among the Muslims was done by the State Backward Classes Commission.

The point is that any Reservation has to necessarily be preceded by a study that determines the social and economic conditions of the backward groups, based on which Reservations are given. In the case of BC Reservation to Muslims in Andhra Pradesh in 2005, it was preceded by the State Backward Classes Commission Report.

At the national level, such a study, in the form of the Kalelkar Commission Report submitted during the Jawaharlal Nehru Government in 1955, and the Mandal Commission Report submitted during the Indira Gandhi Government in 1980, are already available.

What is now required is data, in the form of exact population figures. It is then that proportionate representation could be ensured in the governance processes for the Backward Classes.

The last Caste Census was done in 2011. But, by the time the data tabulation was completed, the Congress-led UPA Government demitted office.

The Narendra Modi-led government that came to power in 2014, refused to make the data public. It did not conduct the Census due in 2021, taking shelter behind the Covid-19 pandemic. Till date, the Modi Government showed no inclination to order the Census.

It is against this backdrop that Rahul Gandhi's pitch for Caste Census has found wider resonance. The available figures are from the 2001 Census, which is more than two-decades old. The 2011 Caste Census data has not been made public.