The Caste Census - Explained

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced that a caste-based census will be integrated into the upcoming decadal census. The move has triggered a credit war between the ruling and the opposition with Union Minister Ashwani Vaishnav stating that, “The caste census will strengthen the social and economic structure of our society while the nation continues to progress.”

In a response to the decision, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has asserted that, "We have put enough pressure on the government to get the caste census done and we want a date by when it is done. We also want to put pressure on the government to see that the 50 per cent cap is destroyed.”

The caste enumeration that formed a regular feature of the census exercises during the British Raj has been reinstated right before the Bihar elections. The census has been on the opposition라이브 바카라 agenda for quite some time and was a key tenet of their campaign for the impending Bihar elections, a state that constitutes nearly two-third of the backward communities. 

Historical Context

Every census that has been conducted since the first census in 1951 has comprised numbers of members from the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) communities. The Central government later permitted the state governments to conduct a separate census for members of the Other Backward Communities (OBC) at their own behest in 1961.

The census of 1931 is the most recent data set available on the basis of caste. However, when the census of 2011 approached, the notion of a caste census was still shaping political discourse. In 2010, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily had requested the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to include the caste census into the fray. After persistent pressure for the demand, a council of ministers chaired by then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee directed the Separate Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC). The data collected from the census which was carried out at a cost of Rs 4900 crore is yet to be made public. 

The issue was especially imperative in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 where the demand for conducting a caste census became a boiler point. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which was one of the only parties to not support the demand then has now criticised the Indian National Congress for not carrying out the caste census in 2011. 

What is the Caste Census?

A caste census is a system where the caste identities of the individuals are also included into the national census. This aids in gaining deeper insights into societal demographics while also facilitating distribution patterns. This data can further be used for benefit transfer and also shape targeted policies for a specific area facilitating greater alleviation. 

How did it become a political focal point?

The issue gained special emphasis during the time of the Mandal commission when the society witnessed a transition from the ascribed identities to an ascriptive one. In 1980, the commission recommended a 27 percent reservation for OBCs under the central government and public sector undertakings and seats in the higher education institutions, thereby bringing the total number of reservations for SC, ST and OBC to 49.5%. 

The decision created fault lines leading to anti-reservation protests in 2006 that lasted till 2008.

The 2021 census which was delayed due to Covid was pending ever since. The decision will determine the course of future politics and is also linked to the implementation of reservation for women in legislatures that was announced by the government earlier.