Of late, there have been calls for caste-based census in the country. The caste census is a caste-wise breakup of the population that enlists all scheduled and unscheduled castes in terms of both numbers and percentage. After India’s first caste census was conducted in 1881, the 2011 caste census collected data on all castes, not just OBCs, as was the predominant demand. The intent behind this was to expand the socio-economic mapping. Back in 2011, in the UPA-2 regime, Congress joined the chorus with regional parties and raised the matter of having a caste census.
As a result, the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC) was carried out along with the 2011 Census, which the Manmohan Singh government had approved to be conducted after due discussion in both Houses of Parliament in 2010. The SECC 2011 began on June 29, 2011. However, it was not done under the 1948 Census of India Act. SECC 2011 was primarily designed to identify households living below the poverty line and to provide data on various socio-economic indicators. It was conducted in all states and union territories across India and then Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley released its first findings on July 3, 2015.
But the brakes had already been applied under UPA-2’s watch when the then Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram, and senior officials in the Ministry who are tasked to oversee the Census operations carried out by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RGI), had made it clear that there was no scope for including the enumeration of castes and sections other than the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in 2011 Census. The Census exercise therefore went by the practice prevailing since 1951. The government did not take formal steps to go ahead with caste-based census.
Yet another contentious aspect that was highlighted was the lack of uniformity in caste specifications across the country. There is a Central list of OBCs and then there are state-specific lists for it. However, while some states do not have a list of OBCs at all, some have, in addition to the OBC list, a subset of Most Backward Castes. Further, a certain caste in the OBC category in one state may not be an OBC at all in another state. Additionally, converts to Islam and Christianity are treated differently within the larger community, depending on the caste they converted from. The classification of those born of inter-caste marriages remains problematic too.
Both BJP and Congress demanded a caste census when they were in opposition, but once they came to power, they did not conduct it conclusively, raising doubts about the intent behind the exercise. But more interestingly, SECC went on from 2011 till 2015 but the data was never revealed. A figure close to Rs 5,000 crore was expended by the Manmohan Singh government and subsequently, Narendra Modi government just for the caste data to never be released. It is no secret that the caste census could significantly alter the existing power dynamics with regard to political representation, and the leading national parties appear unwilling to dabble with this proposition.
