New Delhi, April 16
Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that the religion-based reservation is “unconstitutional”, as the government confirmed plans to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census. Addressing the Lok Sabha, Shah said the 2027 census process has already begun and would gather caste data alongwith other details. He was responding to concerns raised by Akhilesh Yadav over delays in conducting the census.
Shah told MPs that while caste data would be collected, any reservation policy based solely on religion would not align with constitutional provisions. At the same time, the government moved to introduce legislation linked to women’s representation, including proposals to expand the size of Parliament and state assemblies to implement 33% reservation for women.
Opposition parties have objected to aspects of the proposals, particularly delimitation, though they maintain support for women’s reservation. The developments signal a wider political debate over representation, census data and electoral reforms ahead of future elections.
