Lucknow, June 17 -- Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Tuesday welcomed the Centre's decision to conduct the 16th population census and stated that it would "brighten the future of those in darkness."

"I welcome the census and caste census notification issued by the Government of India yesterday...I believe that this will brighten the future of those whose future was in darkness..." Maurya said, speaking to reporters.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Pawan Khera questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on why there was no mention of caste in the survey and further stated that the BJP was always opposed to socio-economic survey of different castes and that the intentions of BJP would always be suspected.

"So, the s...