Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday participated in the Sant Kabir Satsang program in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. During this, he made important statements on caste census, conversion, Hindi-Marathi language and the upcoming visit of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.

Historic decision on caste censusAthawale said that the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a historic decision of caste census. Taking a dig at the Congress, he said, "There was a demand for this for a long time, but when their government was in power, why did they not take any decision on it?" He further said that the General Commission will work in this direction, which will make it clear how much development has taken place, how much welfare has been done and how much benefit the society has got. Emphasis on Hindi and Marathi languageSpeaking on the language dispute in Maharashtra, Athawale said, "Hindi is our mother tongue and it should be respected. Some people had demanded education in Marathi language, on which the Maharashtra government has taken a good decision." He suggested that Hindi should be implemented in schools, but regional language should be given priority from Class 1 to 6.