A pivotal moment beckons India in its sociopolitical landscape, with the government deciding to conduct a caste census alongside the upcoming national Census. This historic step, long demanded by various political groups, is set to reshape critical areas such as political representation, reservations, and the categorization of castes, particularly within the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
It is reported that the raw caste data has been handed over to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which formed an Expert Group under then-NITI Aayog vice-chairperson Arvind Panagariya for classification and categorisation. The data are not available for public consumption.
The government’s reversal of position is driven by pressure from multiple fronts. A national daily highlighted that ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, almost every party other than the BJP voiced support for the caste census.
Naturally, the effects of this decision will echo across India’s political, social, and economic landscape as the caste issue is re-energised.
For decades, the Census has gathered data on the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and religious groups, but caste data for other groups remained absent. The last comprehensive caste data was collected in the 1931 Census, with the 1941 Census gathering similar information that was never published. Despite repeated demands from political factions, especially those representing OBCs, the government avoided including caste questions in subsequent Censuses after independence.
Circa 2010. The decennial Census approached and voices for a caste enumeration grew stronger. M Veerappa Moily, then Law Minister, urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to include caste data in the 2011 Census.
And yet, despite pressure from political parties such as the RJD, SP, DMK, JDU, and some BJP OBC MPs, the government turned down the proposal, citing logistical challenges and the role of enumerators as mere recorders, not investigators.
Despite this resistance, the government eventually relented, setting up a Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) in 2010 under the pressure of UPA allies. The SECC, which was conducted alongside the Census, cost nearly Rs 4,900 crore, but caste-specific data was excluded from the findings. Instead, the data was handed over to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for further analysis, but it remains unpublished to this day.
The national daily notes that ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the demand for a caste census become louder. Political parties — and strangely that included the BJP in Bihar — voiced support for the initiative.
Congress expectedly used the issue to protest against the underrepresentation of OBCs in government positions, a strategy that helped the party improve its seat count from 52 in 2019 to 99 in 2024. Meanwhile, the BJP faced significant setbacks, losing its majority in states like Uttar Pradesh.
In recent years, several state governments have conducted their caste surveys, pushing for “quota within quota” systems. These state surveys have sparked political debate and calls for more nuanced reservations within the OBC category. In 2021, the National Commission for Backward Classes urged the government to include OBC data in the 2021 Census, but the government decided against it. This decision prompted several petitions before the Supreme Court, which remain unresolved.
Meanwhile, the 2021 Census remains on hold, though it is expected to resume soon.
When this Census is finished, the results will have important political ramifications, such as readjusting constituencies and enacting women’s reservations in legislatures. After 2026, the first Census will be used to determine the long-delayed delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies, which has been frozen since 1971. In line with growing political concerns for greater representation and rights, the caste census is also likely to fuel proposals for the sub categorisation of OBCs and for further reservations for particular communities.
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