Today, On 30th April, The Modi government has approved a caste-based census as part of the national population count. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Data will be collected in a transparent & structured manner” during the once-in-a-decade exercise.
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet approved the inclusion of caste-based data collection in the next national census.
The decision was made by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, led by PM Narendra Modi, on Wednesday.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the development during a Cabinet briefing, stating that “the caste data will be collected in a transparent and structured manner as part of the once-in-a-decade census exercise.”
Union Minister Vaishnaw, regarding the Union Cabinet’s decisions, stated,
“Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided today that Caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census.”
This caste census will be conducted nationwide after nearly 94 years.
He emphasized the importance of accuracy and openness in the enumeration process, adding,
“Caste enumerations should be transparent and included in the census for the sake of informed policymaking.”
Vaishnaw also criticized opposition parties, especially the Congress, accusing them of using the demand for a caste census for political gain without any real intention of acting on it.
He said,
“Congress and its alliance partners have used caste-based census only as a political tool. Their focus was never on actual data or welfare,”
The upcoming census, which has already been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is now anticipated to be one of the most thorough demographic surveys in India’s history.
The minister alleged that states governed by opposition parties have conducted caste surveys for political purposes.
He stated that it is the Modi government’s commitment to transparently include caste enumeration in the upcoming nationwide census exercise. The census exercise was originally scheduled to begin in April 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The minister alleged that opposition-led states have conducted caste surveys for political motives, asserting that the Modi government is committed to transparently including caste enumeration in the upcoming nationwide census.
Vaishnaw also criticized the Congress and its INDI alliance parties for using the caste census merely as a political tool.
He stated,
“Congress governments have always opposed the caste census. In 2010, the late Dr. Manmohan Singh said that the matter of caste census should be considered in the Cabinet. A group of ministers was formed to consider this subject,”
Vaishnaw was quoted as saying.
“Most of the political parties have recommended a caste census. Despite this, the Congress government decided not to conduct a survey of caste or a caste census. It is well understood that Congress and its INDI alliance partners have used the caste census only as a political tool,”
He added,
“Some states have conducted surveys to enumerate castes. While some states have done this well, others have approached such surveys purely from a political standpoint and in a non-transparent manner. Such surveys have raised doubts within society. To ensure that our social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be included in the census instead of surveys,”
The population survey, which occurs once every decade, was scheduled for 2021 but was postponed due to the pandemic and various technical and logistical challenges.
Similar to how a national census gathers information on age, gender, and demographic makeup, a caste census is a population survey focused on the caste composition of a region or country.
India has published caste data for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from 1951 to 2011. In October 2023, the findings of Bihar’s caste survey were released by former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The survey indicated that Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes made up 63 percent of the state’s total population.
Among these, Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) represented the largest social segment at 36 percent, followed by Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at 27.13 percent.
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