Overview
- The commission, which issued notices Tuesday, asked Punjab’s census director and the state social justice secretary for an action-taken report within 15 days and warned it could issue summons.
- Hardeep Singh Gill of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis filed the complaint, citing offensive labels such as “Chura” and “Bhangi” on the Union self-enumeration site and in Punjab’s Scheduled Castes list.
- Director Navjot Khosa defended the proforma as a long-used list dating to 1950 and said a detailed reply was being prepared for submission within the next two days.
- Community groups and political figures condemned the language and warned of possible unrest if enumerators repeat the terms during door-to-door visits, while Punjab’s state SC commission urged their removal.
- The Hindu reported that similar synonyms appear in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order in several states and noted that the SC/ST Act bans abusing SC members by caste name, as Census 2027 proceeds in two phases through mid-2027.