Himanshu: India's caste census must serve its purpose

Mint

15-05-2025

The recent Cabinet decision to include caste as a category in India's upcoming population census is an important milestone in the quest for social justice. But it is also relevant for multiple other reasons. While the push for a caste census, or inclusion of caste in the national headcount, gathered pace on the back of a spirited campaign run by the opposition Congress party and its leader, a near consensus on its necessity has always existed among political parties.
Still, there has never been a serious attempt to carry out the exercise. It was this frustration that led states to conduct their own caste counts. While these are called 'surveys' for legal reasons, for all practical purposes and statistically, the caste surveys of Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka qualify as caste censuses. But only partial information is available from these surveys and the absence of detailed data defeats their very purpose.
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A national caste census is likely to put an end to the multiple caste surveys done by states with varying methodologies, questionnaires and time-frames. A common methodology will allow comparisons across states on the basis of publicly available information.
The decision, however, is only a statement of intent. While it puts an end to speculation over a caste census, no details have been made available on its questionnaire, design and methodology. Introducing caste as a category is not just an academic exercise. It flows from an essential requirement under Article 340 of the Constitution, which mandates the government to analyse the socioeconomic conditions of various castes, primarily those classified as 'backward.' This has been reiterated by all backward class commissions set up by states and the Centre. A natural corollary of this is that the caste census is not just a count of the population; it should also allow a proper analysis of the socioeconomic and educational deprivations of various classes/castes.
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In fact, this was the intention behind collecting caste data under the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) of 2011. While the data so collected allowed such an analysis, it was never attempted in a serious manner. Part of the reason was the way the SECC's caste data was collected, which allowed castes to be reported by individuals in whatever manner they felt appropriate.
On the other hand, this learning proved useful in the cases of Bihar and Telangana, where caste categories were pre-decided and left no space for ambiguity. Since caste data is already part of the census exercise for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), it can easily be done for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), for which such a list exists at both the state and central levels. The only ambiguity would be for the rest of the caste groups, but even these can be classified based on a general understanding of which major groups live in each state.
The foremost task before the Registrar General of India (RGI), who must carry out the caste census, will be to reach a consensus on the list of castes. Since most data collection by statistical agencies is now done through digital devices such as computer tablets, pre-filled caste lists will allow quick data generation and analysis.
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The use of tablets for data entry also allows a larger number of questions to be asked than paper-based canvassing would allow. The old paper-based questionnaire limited the number of questions to only two pages. Both the Bihar and Telangana surveys use a much larger set of questions. For an all-India caste census to stay true to the spirit in which it was sought, it should feature a large and detailed set of questions that can enable a meaningful understanding of caste-wise deprivation.
While the classification of castes based on relative deprivation will remain the primary objective of such an exercise, expanding the set of questions is also important for other purposes. A well-designed set of questions will yield granular data that could be used for policymaking. Given that the Census is our only source of data on district and sub-district level measures, this data would be an asset for regional planning and policymaking in assorted local contexts. Despite the challenges of such an exercise, the benefits of an expanded census exercise far outweigh the costs.
While the much-delayed population Census may or may not resolve the vexed issue of how castes should be classified and categorized, it will offer us an opportunity to use its findings as an essential input for evidence-based policymaking, given the complexity of all the social, economic, educational and other related deprivations in a diverse country like ours.
The author is associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and visiting fellow at the Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi.