Patna (Bihar) [India], June 22 (ANI): Just months ahead of the Bihar legislative assembly elections, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav voiced support for reservations in private sector jobs, emphasizing that the RJD and its leaders were among the earliest to advocate for a caste census.

In an interview with ANI, he stated that a caste census reveals the true socio-economic landscape of the country, adding that the data gathered can serve as a foundation for shaping policies and allocating budgets.

He further pointed out that his father and RJD supremo Lalu Yadav has frequently raised the issue of including caste data in the decadal census. He also stated that his party had also raised its voice during the UPA tenure about the same issue.

'Modi Ji used to say that the caste census would create division. So why has he been forced to implement it now? Because the caste census reflects the reality of the country. We've said before-who does manual labour? Who is landless? Who is poor? Who belongs to backward communities? How many of them have government jobs? How many are doing menial work like pulling carts or cleaning garbage? This entire picture will come out through the data. And with this data, we can create a more accurate and fair budget. We'll know who needs how much, and the budget can be made accordingly,' the former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar said.

'This issue has been raised many times by Lalu Ji. Back when Deve Gowda ji was the Prime Minister and my father was the national president of Janata Dal, it was decided in the Cabinet to include caste data in the next census--around 1997. As per that, the 2001 census was supposed to include caste-based data. But then, Atal Ji became the Prime Minister and the BJP government rejected the earlier Cabinet decision. Even today, the cabinet note that Narendra Modi Ji's government refers to is based on the same note. If you look carefully, you'll see that it was Lalu Ji, the national president of Janata Dal at the time, who pushed for this,' added.

'Not just once--when the Uttar Pradesh government was also raising this issue, Netaji (Sharad Yadav) and Lalu Ji came out on the streets. In Bihar, we passed resolutions in both houses of the legislature. Under the leadership of the Chief Minister, we all went to meet the Prime Minister. Based on my proposal, we told him that if he doesn't agree, then we will carry out the caste census at our own expense as a state government. And even then, when we went to meet the Prime Minister, we wrote to all major leaders across the country and gathered their support. You can check--it's all on record. It's a good thing that Rahul Gandhi Ji is also now strongly raising this issue,' Tejashwi said.

Further highlighting the state's large youth population, Tejashwi emphasized that young people should actively participate in politics.

'Our country is the youngest in the world, and among the states of this young country, Bihar is the youngest. Almost about 60% of the population here is youth, and from our hearts, we truly want the youth to move forward, to come into politics, to be part of decision-making, and to participate in policy-making. We sincerely want this to happen because when the new generation comes forward--who make up the majority, about 60% of the population--they will understand their own issues better and will be able to resolve them more effectively,' he said. (ANI)