Include Muslims in caste census, keep infiltrators out, says Giriraj

A Bihar government official said the government chose not to use the term "census" because it denotes a subject on the Union List. "We want to avoid any statutory complications in future," he told TOI.

Patna: While BJP, which has always had reservations about a national caste-based census, gave its nod to a caste-based enumeration, Union minister Giriraj Singh said ahead of the all-party meeting that care should be taken to ensure illegal immigrants like Rohingyas and Bangladeshi Muslims weren't part of the headcount. "I am not against a caste-based census. Muslims should be included in it as well since they, too, enjoy the benefits (of government schemes). But the government should be cognizant of the presence of Bangladeshi infiltrators and Rohingya Muslims," he said, referring to 4 lakh such people being left out of the 1991 census in Bihar in response to a petition by BJP's Rajendra Gupta and Janardan Yadav.