Caste Census

Context:

Constituents of the NDA have called for a caste census in recent days.

Government Response:

Government has told that as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in Census.

Framework of Indian Society

• The most powerful and hence the most pampered minority in Indian society is composed largely of the upper castes. This fact remains unchanged across our many religions, numerous regions, and along the political spectrum from right to left. 
• differentiation within caste groups — segments of the upper castes are not privileged, and many members of the lower castes are now relatively privileged — is still far from transforming the overall composition of the social elite and the precarious underclass.
• Presently the top of Indian society remains overwhelmingly upper caste while its bottom has stayed almost entirely lower caste.

Evolution of Caste Census:

• The silence around caste in national-level politics was finally breached during the Mandal moment.
• The 1990s were a decisive watershed for our collective understanding of caste, and one of its direct outcomes was the gathering of momentum around the demand for a caste census. 
• The 2001 Census saw the first battles, but the opposing forces won relatively
• The 2011 Census witnessed a more even fight, ultimately forcing the UPA government into a backdoor escape via the Socio-Economic and Caste Census, a project designed to fail.

Reasons for Not Conducting the Caste Census

• The main reason for not counting caste has been political, and strong enough to produce (so far) broadly similar responses from both the UPA and the NDA as it can threaten the Vote bank.
• Nehruvian argument offered for not counting caste was also moral-political, namely that doing so would strengthen caste identities, contradicting the official goal of erasing them.
• The technical-practical reasons for opposing caste enumeration — namely, that it is impossible to count something as complex and varied as caste.
• Counting caste in the Census threatens to make visible the only social group in independent India that has never been counted — the so-called “upper” castes.

Need for Caste Census

• Public policy must not be formulated on the basis of hazy projections and blurry extrapolations. Accurate data on the caste composition of the population is needed to maximise the gains of policies such as reservation in education and employment.
• caste continues to be an influential determinant in public affairs and access to resources. Hence, there is a need to enumerate it.
• A caste-based census is required to assess the exact ground situation because in at least 30 states and Union territories, the reservation for backward classes has crossed the upper limit.