"Finally bowed to public pressure": Jairam Ramesh on Centre's approval of caste census

New Delhi [India], May 2 (ANI): As the Narendra Modi government approves the caste census, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday said that the Centre has "bowed" to public pressure and the struggles of the opposition.
Crediting the efforts made by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and other activists and organisations, Ramesh pointed out that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposes every "good" policy and adopts it when met with public pressure.
"Caste census that the Modi government tried to suppress for years. Finally, bowed to the unwavering fight of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party and countless social activists and organisations. This is an important milestone in the fight for social justice. The Modi government, which till yesterday was shying away from even mentioning its name and was leaving no stone unturned in ridiculing and procrastinating, has today agreed to conduct caste census, bowing to the massive public pressure and the struggle of the opposition," Ramesh posted on X.
"In fact, this has been the pattern of the BJP government - first oppose every good scheme or policy, defame it... and when faced with public pressure and reality, adopt the same policy," he added.
Ramesh further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocked the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as a "Monument of Failure", but it proved to be the backbone of the poor in the country during COVID-19 outbreak.
"Remember what the Prime Minister said in Parliament about MNREGA- 'Monument of Failure'! The same MNREGA, which the world called a model of rural employment and poverty alleviation, was mocked, it was said that people are digging pits. But when a disaster like Corona struck, this MNREGA became the backbone of the poor of the country. What happened then? The government also increased its budget and also tried to take credit for it," he added.
He said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced by Congress and criticised by the BJP, who implemented it without any major changes and praised itself.
"The story of GST is no different. When Congress took the initiative to introduce GST, BJP strongly opposed it, saying that it is against the interests of the states. But as soon as it came to power, it implemented it without any major changes and then started praising itself by calling it a 'game changer'," Ramesh said.
Similarly, the Rajya Sabha MP said that Direct Bank Transfer (DBT) was initiative of the Congress to provide subsidies directly into the account of people. However, Ramesh said, it was rejected by the BJP but they implemented it after coming to power.
"The system of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) was created by the Congress so that subsidies reach directly into the accounts of the people. At that time, the BJP rejected it and said, 'This will not work.' But as soon as they came to power, they implemented this DBT system in the entire country and started beating the drum of 'Digital India'," Ramesh said.
"The policy of giving cash assistance to women was started by the Congress. The BJP had then said, 'This is just the politics of announcements.' Today, the same government is running different cash transfer schemes for women," he added.
Intensifying his attack against the Modi government, Ramesh accused it of having "no vision" or "direction" to solve problems.
"The truth is that this government has neither any vision of its own nor any direction to solve the problems. This government is only expert in diverting the attention of the public, running away from the real issues and furthering its divisive agenda. Apart from this, they have no policy, no intention - only politics of lies, propaganda and hatred," he asserted. (ANI)