New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday criticised the Modi government, claiming that it has no intention of conducting the census pending since 2021. She said failure to conduct the census will not only hamper accurate estimation of the country’s population but will also deprive more than 12 crore citizens, especially the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, of benefits under the National Food Security Act.

At the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting held in the national capital, Sonia said, “It is clear that the government has no intention of conducting the census in 2021. This will prevent us from accurately estimating the population of the country, especially the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.”

Attacking the central government, Sonia Gandhi said that elections are going to be held in four states in a few months. We have to maintain the enthusiasm and goodwill that we have seen in the Lok Sabha elections. We should not become complacent and overconfident. The ‘atmosphere’ is in our favour, but we have to work unitedly with a sense of purpose. I dare say that if we perform well in the Lok Sabha elections, there will be a change in national politics.

According to a statement issued by the All India Congress Committee, this also means that at least 12 crore of our citizens are deprived of the benefits of the National Food Security Act 2013. It has now been reintroduced as the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. Sonia Gandhi in her speech at the CPP meeting expressed condolences to the families affected by the Wayanad landslide and other natural disasters.

I first of all express my deepest condolences to the families affected by the terrible disaster in Wayanad. The scale of devastation is huge. Our colleagues in the state have geared themselves up to provide all possible assistance. There have been severe floods in other parts of the country as well and we offer our condolences to the affected families.