Congress Renews Call for Caste Census After Survey Exposes Disparities in Sewer and Septic Tank Workforce

New Delhi – With a recent government survey showing that a staggering 92% of sewerage and septic tank workers in India belong to marginalized communities, the Congress party has renewed its call for a national caste census. The data collected under the government's NAMASTE program has sparked widespread political response, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge amplifying demand on social media. He urged the government to focus on pressing issues like the Manipur crisis, census and especially caste census.

The survey, which profiled over 38,000 workers from 29 states and union territories, revealed that 68.9% of these workers belonged to Scheduled Castes (SC), 14.7% to Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 8.3% to Scheduled Tribes (ST) belong. . Only 8% of workers were from the general category, highlighting the severe over-representation of marginalized communities in hazardous sanitation work.