Article: Politics is not able to take the right stand, is caste census right for the country or not?

Author: Awadhesh Kumar
The central government can announce the date of commencement of the census anytime. Its report is expected to come by March 2026. As per rules, the census should have been conducted every 10 years after 2011 in 2021. This was not possible due to the Covid pandemic starting from 2020. In this way, this will be a delayed census.

No consent
There is curiosity about this census because first some Mandalist parties and later top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have continuously adopted an aggressive stance on caste census. This was a big issue for most of the anti-BJP parties in the last Lok Sabha elections and they believe that it affected the voting. However, there is still no consensus in the country on whether caste census should be done or not.

Racism will increase
The main argument in favour of caste census is that only this will give us the correct data. On the basis of those data, reservation and other welfare schemes will be made and only then their benefits will reach the appropriate persons or communities. Opponents argue that we have sufficient data for this from several studies. Secondly, Indian society has emerged from caste discrimination to a large extent and this process is moving forward which can be hampered by caste census.

Signs of government
The indications given by the Narendra Modi government in the recent past indicate that the government has decided to conduct caste census along with the census. Although it has not been formally announced, there are reports that preparations for it are underway. Statements by some cabinet ministers are also indicating this. Since this is bound to happen, it is necessary to focus on the important aspects related to it.

Socioeconomic Survey
Caste census was also done along with the 2011 census. It is a different matter that due to internal differences, it was done under the Rural Development Ministry instead of the Census Commissioner and was named – Socioeconomic Survey. Its report was not released. The Modi government had decided to release the report in 2018. But the committee of experts said that it is so flawed that it is not possible to release it. However, many parties demanding caste census at this time had opposed its release then.

Post-independence debate
After independence, there was a debate on whether we should conduct caste census along with the census like the British did. Finally, it was decided that only Dalits and tribes (called Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in official language) should be counted because there is a provision of reservation for them. The then leaders considered caste census as a part of the British policy of dividing the society and shunned it.

Opposition in Congress
The truth is that the British conducted caste census with the intention of breaking the society and presented it in such a way that those who were considered backward, scheduled caste, scheduled tribes in it, developed the thought of seeing themselves as different from the society. The result of this was that a section of the society remained aloof from the freedom movement. The Congress party was always against caste census. The UPA government was based on support from outside. Despite this, many leaders including the then Home Minister P Chidambaram did not accept it.

Census conducted in Bihar
Last year, the Nitish government of Bihar conducted a census in the name of caste survey and released it on 2 October, Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. After this, people in many cities, towns and villages of Bihar were telling in front of the camera that no one came to their place to do the census. Still that report was included in the government records. The Congress government of Karnataka also conducted a caste census in 2015 which has not been released till date. Politics today has become synonymous with such double standards that even without doing any work one adopts a strategy to become a hero and get votes by pressurizing others for it.

Complexity of caste structure
India’s caste system is so complex that those who understand it believe that it will not be possible to issue an absolutely certain and coherent report. In the first caste census conducted in 1931, the total number of castes in the country was stated to be only 4,147. In the caste census conducted in 2011, the total number of castes came out to be more than 46 lakhs. Similarly, in 1931, the number of castes falling under Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and OBC in Maharashtra was 494, whereas in 2011 this number was found to be 4 lakh 28 thousand 677.

The vote bank effect
The common experience is that despite the existence of castes today, people have largely eliminated caste discrimination from their behaviour. Social unity is essential for India, which is moving towards becoming the world’s top developed nation. Some anti-India foreign powers are trying in many ways to create divisions and tensions within the society. Daring to go against the atmosphere created in the current political situation can be risky from the point of view of votes. This is the reason why even the leaders who raised their voice against it till yesterday are now silent. There is a fear that the leaders may misuse it for votes and adopt the role of dividing the society. Let us hope that the responsible leaders of the country will eventually adopt a positive and cautious view of the report. After all, our ultimate goal is to create an egalitarian society beyond caste discrimination.

Many classes did not get their rights, that is why the demand for caste census has intensified

Author:Anil Sinha
Caste census has become the most important issue of the country at the moment and it is believed that now it will not be possible for the government to ignore it. India has given it the first place in its agenda. If we look at the politics of the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, in the last one and a half to two years, then it will seem that he/she has now made it his/her biggest weapon. BJP was so angry with his/her insistence on caste census in Parliament that it asked his/her caste.

party glasses incomplete
Just like the question of reservation, the question of caste census also creates a situation of sharp verbal attack. Rahul Gandhi starts counting that the number of Dalits, backward and tribals in decision making positions in government departments is still negligible. his/her statement is completely correct.

Congress should also answer
But the question is whether this is the situation today? The backward classes were given reservation in the nineties, but Dalits and tribals have been getting reservation in jobs and education since independence. Still, their number in decision-making positions is negligible. Congress will have to answer this. This means that it is not right to look at caste census only from the prism of parties.

The issue of participation
The issue of caste census and participation in employment, education and power according to the numbers is quite complex. It is a fact that the participation of backward, Dalit and tribal people is very low. But the opportunity of this limited participation has also remained limited to certain castes or groups. It has not been possible for many groups and castes to enter the narrow path of coming out of illiteracy, poverty and unemployment. Mushar of Bihar, Valmiki of North India, Madiga of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka and Matang of Maharashtra are such groups. These are Scheduled Castes. Similarly, there are many groups like Birhor and Korba in Scheduled Tribes. There are many castes from Rajbhar, Nishad to backward classes which are in extremely backward state.

The gap has not decreased
75 years of Dalit-tribal reservation and about 35 years of backward reservation have not brought about a major change in the inequality between the groups. The gap between these groups and the forward castes has not decreased. A handful of people from the castes that have received reservation have definitely come to a position to compete with these forward castes to some extent in education and employment. But this is only symbolic.

the urge for equality
Yet in a society with a hierarchy where riding a horse at a wedding is prohibited for some castes, these changes are important. With the spread of democracy, the desire to eliminate the deep gulf of inequality has also increased. Political parties, especially social justice parties, have played a big role in this. Socialists, communists and Ambedkarites have organized people socially and politically in their own ways and brought so much awareness among them that they have now started demanding proper participation.

What is the complaint
Caste census is an expression of this demand for participation. There are many reasons for this demand gaining momentum. The backward classes feel that reservation is not being fully implemented and their share of jobs goes to the forward castes. They allege that they are deprived of the benefits of reservation on the pretext of not finding qualified candidates. The extremely backward classes complain that some castes among them are swallowing the benefits of reservation.

50 percent limit
There is also a controversy over the 50 percent limit of reservation. Elections have made the arithmetic of castes important and people have more or less a rough idea of ​​the population of castes. Therefore, the backward classes feel that 27 percent reservation is less than their population. Many states have also increased their reservation. But due to the limit of 50 percent, this decision does not stand in the Supreme Court. In many decisions, the courts have advised to prepare correct data.

Mistakes in calculations
In 2010, the Parliament unanimously proposed that castes should also be counted in the 2011 census. But the then government instead conducted a socio-economic and caste survey. This work was done by the Rural Development and Urban Development Ministry. Many people believe that it was not done properly and the number of castes reached 46 lakhs. Citing errors as the reason, the government did not publish this survey.

The logic of social division
BJP and RSS believe that caste census is divisive and increases casteism. But the question is, is our society not divided into castes now? The census of Dalits and Adivasis has been taking place since independence. Has this divided the society? Has the caste survey conducted in Karnataka and Bihar divided the society there?

Court’s stance
Ten percent reservation has been given to economically weaker people of general category without any counting. Supreme Court has declared it legal. But Supreme Court rejects the increase in reservation for backward classes on the basis of lack of data. In such a situation, what option do backward classes have other than demanding caste census?

How to measure distance
It would be wrong to think that caste census will eliminate all inequalities. It is merely a way to measure the gap between castes. Rahul Gandhi is right in saying that this is an X-ray of society. Only after the X-ray can we talk about treatment of the disease.
(Both authors are senior journalists)