Congress govt issues order for caste survey in Rajasthan

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

polls in Rajasthan, the Congress government on Saturday night issued an order for the conduct of a caste survey in the state. The order came just days after Bihar released the findings of its caste survey.
Rajasthan will be the second state in the country to conduct such a population count.

The assembly polls in Rajasthan are due later this year and the election schedule is expected to be announced anytime soon.
According to the order, issued by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment after the state cabinet's nod, the Rajasthan government will conduct the survey with its own resources for collecting information and figures related to social, economic and educational level of all its citizens.
The Department of Planning (Economic and Statistics) has been made the nodal department for the work.

However, the order does not provide a time frame for the conduct of the population count.
Sharing a copy of the order for caste survey on its official 'X' account, the ruling party said, «The Congress government of Rajasthan will conduct a caste-based survey. Congress is working on its resolution of 'whoever participates, so does his participation'.»
A nationwide caste census is a key agenda of the opposition INDIA bloc, which believes it will help the alliance in the forthcoming elections in the Hindi heartland where caste politics plays a key role.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot told reporters that an order would be issued in this regard.
«We will conduct a survey. The order for this will be released immediately.

It will be a survey. Census is done by the Government of India. It cannot be done by the state government.