Demands For Caste Based Census

The phenomenon of caste and its origin, evolution and existence is peculiar to India. The caste system seems to have developed to a point that even in the 21^st Century, it manages to retain importance in the contemporary social organization in the country. It is known that there are thousands of castes in India which are further divided into various sub-castes, each categorised according to their specific occupation. But this categorisation is not strict and rigid.

• According to scholars, Indian communities cannot be bounded in rigid categories as their boundaries have remained fluid, fuzzy and dynamic because of the process of fusion of various castes. It is due to this fuzziness and fluidity that the colonial state sought to redraw the boundaries of castes through the census and place various communities in rigid categories for the purpose of administrative convenience.

Caste Census in India

• Since the periodic census of 1881, the data on caste was always included in the census exercise. But, it was discontinued in 1941 because of administrative and financial issues due to World War II.
• After Independence, the Socio-Economic Caste Census was undertaken in 2011 to obtain data about the socio-economic status of various communities. But its results were not published.
• In 2015, a committee was constituted under Arvind Panagariya to analyze the caste data collected in 2011, but the exercise was not fruitful. The government has called the data ‘incorrect and outdated’.
• In 2021, in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Union government had ruled out the possibility of conducting a Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) on account of administrative difficulties.

Need for a Caste Census

• Census of India publishes data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but there is no data on other castes. In the absence of such a census, there is no proper estimate for the population of OBCs, various groups within the OBCs, and others.
• India runs one of the largest affirmative action programs on the basis of caste. The government used outdated data of 1931 census to make policies and programs for affirmative action for these castes. Hence, there is an urgent need for tabulation of new and updated caste data.
  • Further, the 1931 caste census included present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. India’s population has since increased three-fold to 1.21 billion in 2011.
• Various studies have found that concentration of income and wealth among higher castes is more as compared to lower castes. Upper-caste groups have been the primary beneficiaries of education, economic and development policies of the government.
  • According to a research paper published in 2018 by Nitin Bharti, titled ‘Wealth Inequality, Class and Caste in India, 1961-2012’ the average household income in India was Rs. 113, 222. Among upper caste groups, Brahmins earned 48% above the national average while non-Brahmin upper castes earned 45%. On the other hand, Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes earned 34% and 21% less than the national average respectively. OBC groups earned 8% less than the national average.
• Wealth gap between upper-caste groups and other caste groups has increased in last 30 years of economic liberalisation.
  • Through a caste-based census, the state will be able to review its policies.

Significance of a Caste Census

• Social Justice: A caste based census would rationalize affirmative action programs of the government and ensure social justice as the lower castes are under-represented in the wealth and income distribution of the country as a proportion of their population.
• Revising Backwardness Criteria: It would help in revising the benchmarks of socio-economic backwardness in the country by revealing information related to marginalization and deprivation on the basis of caste. It can be ensured that those entering a particular occupation are not representative of a particular caste or community.
• Mitigate Errors: The present caste data has errors of collection and enumeration. The new caste census will reduce the inclusion and exclusion errors occurring due to present data.
• Inclusive Development: Enumeration of hitherto unrepresented and under-represented communities in the policies and programs of the government would ensure inclusive development.