India is taking its step forward to progress by fulfilling the long standing aspiration of caste census for taking better initiatives & policies for the common man. Recently, the enumeration of a full fledged caste census (including all caste categories of General, STs, SCs and OBCs) was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA).
On 30th April 2025, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced this decision after the CCPA meeting was held in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack. This decision surprised the experts & opposition since everyone was expecting a strong response like what was done after the Pulwama terrorist attack. Last CCPA meeting was held after the horrific attack on Indian soldiers in Pulwama, J&K.
What is caste census? Who conducts it?
According to the definition of the constitution of India, Caste census is a systematic collection of Indian citizen’s caste data, gathered during the national census every ten years. The conduct of census is done under the Census Act of 1948 which empowers the central government to
- Conduct census which includes the collection, compilation, and analysis of demographic, economic, and social data
- Allows making provisions for appointing of census officers
- Allows setting of penalties in case of it’s obstruction or making any false statement against it
Article 246 in the constitution empowers the Union government for the collection of national census data. Another Article 340 empowers the President of India to appoint a commission for the investigation of backward class’s conditions and also allow them to make recommendations for their overall improvements.
Why is caste census important for India?
Discriminating on the basis of Caste is prohibited in India and is a punishable offence under legislation like the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. And the punishments for such offences could result in imprisonment ranging from one month to 5 years along with fines. However, despite strict regulations and punishments, dealing with Caste discrimination is the pinnacle issue of Indian society.
For instance, there have been many cases of atrocities and crime against people especially women of other backward classes.
Therefore there is a need for enumeration of caste census in this upcoming census. Here are other major reasons that can be sorted out or improved with it’s help:
- Social inequality
- Fair allocation of Resources and Programmes
- Planning & Adjustments of Caste based policies
- Understanding India’s population structure
Social inequality
Finding marginalized communities that need additional support can be helpful through caste census. Governments can create programs focused on improving the lives of economically and socially disadvantaged individuals, provided they have access to reliable data.
Fair allocation of Resources and Programmes
It is difficult to allocate public resources fairly in the absence of accurate statistics. The ruling government will have a detailed understanding of the population numbers and living conditions of various caste groups through a caste census. This facilitates more efficient distribution of resources such as healthcare, education, and job perks.
Planning & Adjustments of Caste based policies
Equal opportunity is the goal of policies like reservations for OBCs and other underprivileged groups. However, we require precise caste-based data in order to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures.
Understanding India’s population structure
Researchers, social scientists, and politicians can use a caste census to examine the relationships between various communities and the areas of inequality.
Here is an interview conducted by India today in 2024 with Poonam Muttreja on the importance of caste census.
When was the last caste census recorded in India?
Under British rule, the caste census was recorded every ten years starting from 1881 to 1931. The last caste census of 1931 was made under the supervision of J H Hutton, a Census Commissioner.
In 1941, Caste census was conducted but due to ongoing World War 2, the British government couldn’t complete it effectively & the data was hampered. M W M Yeats, the then Census Commissioner, said in a note: “There would have been no all India caste table… The time is past for this enormous and costly table as part of the central undertaking…”
“The tabulations of the [sampled] results on machines were so botched and delayed that even by 1954, no complete tabulations … had been made. The final results defied coherent interpretation at the state or national level,” said Ashok Mitra, a census commissioner in 1961.
Fast Forward to 2010, Under the UPA government, Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) was conducted and Rs 4,893.60 crore was approved for the same. The ministries who handled it were divided in two parts, one was the Ministry of Rural Development for conducting census in rural areas and other was the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation for urban areas. Although national census data was published by both ministries in 2016, the raw data for caste census was never made public. Why? The then ruling government said the actual data accuracy was hampered by methodological infirmities.
So no one did any Caste census after 2011?
If you are expecting an answer for the overall national one, then NO, we didn’t do any of that. As per usual timeline, 2021 was the year for conducting the national census, but since we all know that it was a time when India was being sucked into creeping paralysis of coronavirus. So it was postponed but nothing was done after that.
But the Central government in 2008 allowed the states to conduct a census within their states as stated in the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 and share the data accordingly with the government. Following which the states like Bihar, Karnataka, & Telangana have conducted it in the last three years in order to guide welfare and reservations.
When will the new caste census commence?
It is said to be commenced in the end of 2025 year or starting of 2026. But an official statement for an actual starting date from the Central government is yet to be announced.
Political indifferences: How its converted into “credit war”?
The NDA led ruling government is trying to steal the credit & present this as their original idea for the welfare of marginalized communities. But in reality, UPA in opposition, especially Rahul Gandhi, always supported the enumeration of Caste census. However, the strong opposition has been made against Caste census in the statements from NDA politicians and that is not one time but in many public interactions.
5 months ago
10 September 2024
20 September 2023
Rahul Gandhi
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari
NDA Politicians statement on the Caste Census decision:
Adithya Nath Yogi
Manoj Tiwari
Devendra Fadnavis
Kangana Ranuat
Other Politicians Statements on the decision:
Prashant Kishore
Tejashwi Yadav
On July 20, 2021, Minister of State (Home Affairs), Nityanand Rai, told the Parliament that the Modi government has decided it’s a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in the Census. But this has become yet another political issue and in some way a game of dodging & blaming each other for not implementing it earlier.
