This refers to the editorial, “Census data disturbing” (July 6). The editorial has highlighted three principal problems. The first is that India's first Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011, proves the proves the failure of Governments since independence, so much so that 11 crore people live in utter deprivation, and more than 50 per cent families living in rural areas depend on manual casual labour (with very low income and large scope for exploitation of the worst kind of hire-and-fire), and with manual scavenging still widely prevailing. Sixty per cent of the country lives in distress. The second is that, on the caste-based economic pattern, 56 per cent of the rural population, that does not own land, belongs largely to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The third is that the figures negate the Congress's and the Bahujan Samaj Party's claims that they have done a lot to ameliorate the conditions of the down-trodden. Governments must focus on the needs of the rural community.