New Delhi: The government on Wednesday set up a group of ministers (GoM) to decide if there should be a caste-based census after the Union Cabinet failed to resolve the matter.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, discussed the issue over which various ministers are divided, official sources said.
The Cabinet then decided that a GoM should take a view on the issue, they said. The GoM is likely to be headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The Cabinet, which first discussed the issue at length on May 4, has been divided on it.
Law Minister Veerappa Moily and some others are pushing for caste-based census, but Home Minister P Chidambaram is not keen.
The Home Ministry is understood to have told the government that the present exercise of enumeration should go on and caste could be included later at the time of taking biometric samples.
Several political parties, including Samajwadi Party, RJD and JD(U), have been pressing for caste-based census but the government is moving cautiously on the politically-sensitive matter.
The issue had figured prominently in the just-concluded Budget Session of Parliament when the Prime Minister had assured the members that government would take their views into account before deciding on the matter.
Political parties, including the Samajwadi Party, RJD and JD-U have been strongly demanding inclusion of caste in the census exercise.
The Prime Minister, during his press conference on Monday, said the decision would be taken by the Cabinet. "I made a statement in Parliament in which I said that we shall take into account the views expressed in Parliament by various sections ...and that I will ask the Cabinet to consider them. That process is on," Singh said.
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