Chandigarh, May 20 -- The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) on Tuesday took cognisance of the use of casteist words in the official list prepared for the upcoming nationwide decadal counting operations, issuing a notice to Navjot Khosa, the director of census operations for Punjab.

The commission sought an action taken report within 15 days from the director of census operations for Punjab, and the principal secretary of the department of social justice, empowerment and minorities.

This intervention follows widespread public outrage and protests led by farm and rural labour bodies in Punjab, including the Dehati Mazdoor Sabha and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Sabha, who discovered an offensive, derogatory term embedded within th...