Caste-based Census

What is the issue?

There have been mounting demands on caste based census coming from different quarters of the country.

What is caste census?

• Caste census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording the caste-wise tabulation of India’s population

What is the need for such a demand?

• To justify the preservation of caste-based affirmative action programmes for better planning and targeting of welfare schemes
• To provide quantifiable data to support the existing levels of reservation as required by Supreme court for groups like OBC
• To favour the political parties if particular groups are established as dominant in specific geographies
• To debate on issues like disproportionate benefits from reservation by particular groups within each category
• To address the inequities in the society

What is the government’s stand?

• The Union of India after Independence decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste wise population other than SCs and STs.
• The government cites that a census of the backward castes is administratively difficult and cumbersome
• Having caste as a part of census is so complex that it may jeopardise the decennial census itself.
• Very high number of castes and sub-castes with phonetic variations and similarities adds to the burden
• Even the Census of 1931 that included caste was not complete and accurate
• The caste census might evoke varying responses from different groups
• Government argues that caste-based census is against the idea of a casteless society

What are the gaps in the existing caste data?

• There is a Central list of OBCs and State-specific list of OBCs.
• Some States do not have a list of OBCs.
• Some States have a list of OBCs and a sub-set called Most Backward Classes.
• There are certain open-ended categories in the lists such as orphans and destitute children.
• Names of some castes are found in both the list of Scheduled Castes and list of OBCs.
• Scheduled Castes converted to Christianity or Islam are also treated differently in different States.
• The status of a migrant from one State to another and the status of children of inter-caste marriages, in terms of caste classification, are also contentious.

How can the differences be accommodated?

• A preliminary socio-anthropological study can be done at the State and district levels to establish all sects and sub-castes present in the population
• These can be tabulated under caste names that have wider recognition based on synonymity and equivalence
• Thereafter, it may be possible to do a field enumeration that can mark any group under castes found in the available OBC/BC lists.

Source: The Hindu