NEW DELHI, Apr 16: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that reservation for Muslims on the basis of religion will not be provided, stating that such a quota would be unconstitutional.
Speaking during a heated 40-minute debate in the Lok Sabha, after which three bills related to amendments in the women’s reservation law and the formation of a delimitation commission were introduced, Shah said the government will also conduct a caste census along with the upcoming population enumeration.
“The question of providing reservation to Muslim women on the basis of religion does not arise. Our Constitution does not permit reservation on the basis of religion. I want to clearly state that Muslims will not be given reservation on the basis of religion. Such reservation is unconstitutional,” Shah said, responding to remarks made by Samajwadi Party leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Dharmendra Yadav.
He further said that the government has already decided to conduct a caste census, which will be carried out along with the population count.
“At present, household enumeration is underway, and households do not have caste data. If it were up to the Samajwadi Party, they would even assign caste to households,” he remarked.
Shah also stated that if political parties choose to allocate tickets to Muslim women, the government has no objection to it.
He added that the census process will include caste-related data collection as part of the enumeration exercise, which he said is also supported by the government.
The houselisting for Census 2027 began on April 1. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had earlier decided to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census. Caste has not been included in census operations since Independence.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha also took up the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Delimitation Bill, 2026, for debate and passage. The proposal includes increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha to 815 seats, with 272 seats reserved for women, ensuring 33 per cent representation. (Agency)
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