Sign In
Learn bits
Polity & Governance
Mahesh

05/05/25 08:26 AM IST

Key objectives of caste count

In News
  • The Union Cabinet has decided that the next Census will include questions on caste to its enumeration of India’s population, for the first time in almost a century. 
Caste Census in India
  • When the British first started counting India’s population in 1881, caste data was included in the information gathered.
  • For the next half-century, the decennial censuses collected caste information.
  • The last time that data was published was from the 1931 census, which counted 4,147 castes and sub-castes across the country.
  • Though the wartime 1941 census also collected data on individual castes, it was never released.
  • After India gained Independence, the government decided to avoid the question of caste in the census, only counting Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SCs/STs).
  • In 2011, the Union Ministry of Rural Development kicked off a different kind of caste-counting exercise as part of its Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC).
  • The data collected was meant to be used for research and policy making and to effectively design and implement development and welfare schemes.
  • Though parts of the data were published in 2016, the raw data on specific caste populations was not included.
  • As the SECC left its questions on caste open-ended rather than making them choose their caste from a set list, respondents often entered their surnames, meaning that the SECC enumerators counted more than 46 lakh different castes.
Use of Data
  • Apart from its use in academic research and policy making, the key import of caste data from a public and political viewpoint is what changes it will drive in affirmative action or reservation policies.
  • The 27% OBC quota for education and government jobs was set on the basis of a projection from the 1931 census; a new caste count could well upend those estimates.
  • In Karnataka, for instance, where the caste survey found that the OBC population is significantly higher than estimated, there have been demands to increase their quota in the State from 32% to 51%.
  • The clamour for more reservation, backed by caste population data, is also likely to lead to a challenge of the Supreme Court-mandated 50% cap on reservation.
Timeline for caste census
  • The catch in the Centre’s announcement is that no dates have yet been notified for the next Census.
  • The last Census was held in 2011, with the 2021 Census being delayed indefinitely, initially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The addition of a caste component involves more work for Census officials.
  • The next step will be to draft a code directory of castes to be used in the Census.
  • Unlike the SECC, which had an open-ended query on the respondent’s caste, the Census is likely to provide a drop-down list of castes for respondents to choose from.
  • How castes will be listed is a thorny political question, given that the Centre and States have differing, and often contentious OBC lists.
  • Linguistic and regional diversity in caste names, splitting of castes into sub-castes over time, and disagreements on whether specific castes fit into SC, OBC, or general categories, are likely to complicate the process.
  • Religion adds another factor into the mix, with questions about how non-Hindu groups will be recognised and whether they will get benefits on the basis of the caste census. 
Source- The Hindu

More Related Current Affairs View All

05 May

2 new genome-edited rice varieties

'Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently released two genome-edited varieties of rice, the first achievement of its kind in the country.' These two varieties, which

Read More

05 Mar

First-ever comprehensive survey of India’s river dolphins

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the first-ever comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins – Gangetic and Indus dolphins – done in In

Read More

05 Mar

Arresting women at night

'The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in Deepa versus S. Vijayalakshmi and Others ruled that the legal provision in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps