Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabha seeks socio-economic caste census in State

The Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabha demands a socio-economic caste census in Kerala to address inequality and representation issues.

The Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabha (KPMS) took out a protest march to the Secretariat on Thursday demanding a socio-economic caste census in the State.

Punnala Sreekumar, general secretary, KPMS, who inaugurated the march, said that the Left Democratic Front government should turn into a government of the upper castes. The government which was quick to implement reservation for the indigent among forward caste communities was reluctant to carry out the caste census, he said.

In the post-liberalisation era, the major political parties heading governments had taken steps to aid the private sector, but no law existed to ensure representation for scheduled categories in the sector, even though large amounts of public resources were being handed over to the private sector. The caste census would enable an accurate analysis of the inequality caused by these processes, which would aid in taking corrective measures. The Congress, which has taken a stand for caste census at the national level, had not made its stand clear in Kerala, he said.