Govt warns states to complete caste census before Mar 15

Taking serious note of "inordinate delay" in completing caste census, the government today warned that central assistance to states for building rural houses and welfare pensions would be blocked if they fail to complete the exercise before March 15.

Rural Development Ministry officials said all states and Union Territories are once again instructed to give top priority to complete all tasks related to Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) by next month.

"In year 2015-16 and onwards, this SECC data will be the base on which the beneficiaries for the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) will be selected so far as the Rural Development Ministry is concerned and those states who failed in selecting the beneficiaries from this data base would not receive financial assistance," a government note said.

The Centre's move came in the wake of a PIL petition filed by human rights' body People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) in which they alleged that non-completion of SECC by states and UTs is the main reason for delay in implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA).

The SECC was started in June 2011 through a comprehensive door-to-door enumeration across the country to generate information on a large number of social and economic indicators relating to households across the country.

If the states failed to complete the exercise before next month, thousands of rural poor who are the beneficiaries of Centre's IAY and welfare pensions including Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme, National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) and Annapurna, will be affected, the government note said.

The Centre's tough decision also came after some states even failed to publish the draft list of the census.