Mumbai, April 8 Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday demanded that people who converted to Buddhism from the Scheduled Castes in Maharashtra be recorded as "Buddhist" in religion during the ongoing Census exercise, but their caste should continue to be listed under the SC category.
"This would ensure accurate representation," he said, noting that if "new Buddhists" are recorded only under religion as "Buddhists", their population may be counted under the general category, leading to a reduction in the Scheduled Caste population figures in the state.
Athawale raised this demand during a meeting with Maharashtra Governor Jishnu Dev Varma at Raj Bhavan, where he submitted a memorandum seeking specific directions to the state government on the issue.
The Census began on April 1 in eight states and Union Territories, including Delhi, with the opening of a 15-day self-enumeration window, where citizens can exercise the option to provide information about themselves on the web portal, developed by the government.
The 2027 Census is being conducted in two phases — the first stage is known as house listing and housing census, and the second stage is the population census.
Scheduled Caste people who had converted to Buddhism should be recorded as "Buddhist" under religion during the enumeration exercise, but their caste should continue to be listed under the SC category along with the original caste serial number, Athawale said.
"This would ensure that new Buddhists in Maharashtra are not excluded from SC population data," he said in a statement issued after meeting the Governor.
Referring to the mass conversion led by Dr B R Ambedkar on October 14, 1956, Athawale stated that a large section of the Scheduled Caste people in Maharashtra had adopted Buddhism.
He noted that new Buddhists were included in the SC category following a Constitutional amendment during the tenure of then Prime Minister V P Singh in 1990.
The RPI (A) chief expressed concern that if new Buddhists are recorded only under religion as Buddhists in the Census, their population may be counted under the general category, leading to a reduction in the Scheduled Caste population figures in Maharashtra.
Athawale urged the Governor to direct the state government to ensure that Census forms allow proper classification, with religion marked as Buddhism and caste as Scheduled Caste, along with the relevant caste code listed by the Government of India.
Notably, the apex court had last month said that no person professing a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism can be regarded as a member of a Scheduled Caste.
The minister also raised other issues during the meeting, including a demand to increase the size of houses provided under slum rehabilitation schemes from 300 sq ft to at least 500 sq ft.
He further sought implementation of reservation in promotions for government employees, citing Supreme Court clearance and its adoption in other states.
Athawale urged the state government to regularise encroachments on grazing land by extending the eligibility cut-off date from April 14, 1990, to April 14, 2000, and to provide land to landless Dalits for cultivation.