"Bihar caste census an X-ray for country": Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Reiterating his call for a nationwide caste census, which he stated earlier was a promise that the Congress would fulfil if voted back at the Centre, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday termed Bihar's caste census an 'X-ray' for the country that will shed light on the real living standards of the poor.
"Have we ever wondered who the poor are? How many are there and in what condition? Is it not necessary to count all these? The caste census conducted in Bihar revealed that 88 per cent of the poor population comes from Dalit, tribal, backward and minority communities. The figures from Bihar are just a small glimpse of the real picture of the country, we do not even have an idea in what condition the poor population of the country is living.," Gandhi said in a tweet.
"That is why we are going to take two historic steps - caste counting and economic mapping, based on which we will uproot the reservation limit of 50 per cent. This step will X-ray the country and provide the correct reservation, rights and share to everyone," the Congress MP stated further.
"This will not only help in making the right policies and plans for the poor but will also help in rescuing them from the struggle of education, earning and medicines and connecting them to the mainstream of development. Therefore, wake up, wake up and raise your voice, caste counting is your right and it will take you out of the darkness of difficulties and towards the light," he added.
"Count is our slogan because counting is the 'first step to justice'," he added.
Earlier, on Friday, Rahul said his party will change the status quo in the country in which a select few billionaires have complete control over wealth and resources, while 90 per cent of the population remains marginalised and sidelined.
He promised to create a special Rs 5,000 crore dedicated corpus to encourage entrepreneurship among the youth coming from ordinary family backgrounds in a bid to enable them to start their own businesses.