NEW DELHI, May 1 -- Janata Dal (United) working president Sanjay Jha welcomed the Centre's decision to include caste-based enumeration in the next decadal census, calling it a big step that would help in planning policy for the backward and deprived sections more efficiently. Edited excerpts of his interview:

Do you see the government's announcement as a victory for the JD(U) as your leader and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar was pushing for caste census?

It is definitely a big win. Not just for the JD(U), but for the NDA as the BJP was also on board and had accepted the need for caste-based enumeration. Our leader Nitish Kumar has been raising the issue for a very long time, even when he was part of the INDIA bloc. However, no one paid heed to h...