Why are regional political parties keen on a caste census

Recently, Patna High Court allowed the Bihar government to go ahead with its caste survey, taking into account its assurance on data protection in the Assembly.

Census in India:

• The Census in India has been conducted synchronously every ten years since 1881, providing a historical record of the population and societal changes.

Purpose:

• Its primary purpose is to capture demographic and socio-economic information about the Indian population.
• It has been utilized by the government, policy makers, academics, and others for various purposes, including resource allocation and understanding social changes.
• Nodal Ministry: Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs
• First Non-synchronous Census: It was conducted in India in 1872 during the reign of Governor-General Lord Mayo
• First Synchronous Census: The first synchronous census was taken under British rule in 1881.

Importance of Census:

• Understanding Society: The Census helps in enumerating, describing, and understanding the population of a society, providing valuable demographic and socio-economic information about the people.
• Policy Formulation: The data collected through the Census is crucial for policy makers to develop informed and evidence-based policies, addressing the needs and challenges of the population.
• Mapping Social Change: Over time, the Census allows for the mapping of social change, tracking shifts in demographics, living conditions, and socio-economic indicators.
• Inequality Analysis: Census data aids in identifying disparities and inequalities in various segments of the population, enabling targeted interventions to address these issues.
• Academic Research: The Census serves as a valuable resource for academics and researchers to conduct studies on various aspects of society, including migration, employment, education, and health.

About Caste Census:

• Caste census means inclusion of caste-wise tabulation of India’s population in the Census exercise, which is a decennial count of the Indian population.

Demand for Caste Census:

• In India, every census since 1951 has included information about the population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• However, it did not include information about the population of lower and intermediate castes, known as Other Backward Classes (OBCs), which make up about 52% of the population.
• This has led to calls for a separate census to gather data about the OBC population.

Arguments in favour of Caste Census:

• Recording Demographic Changes: The last caste census was carried out by the British in 1931 and the need for a fresh one is overdue, especially since India has undergone significant demographic changes since then.

• Restructuring affirmative action programmes: A scientific counting of caste groups will help the government restructure affirmative action programmes.
• Effective delivery of welfare programmes:The caste census will give information on educational status and economic status of various castes; such information is crucial in more effective delivery of targeted welfare programmes.
• Bringing Objectivity to Reservations: The census will bring objectivity to the debate on reservations.
• Improved understanding of caste discrimination: It would help to improve our understanding of the prevalence and nature of caste-based discrimination in India.

Arguments against the Caste census:

• Against Vision of Casteless Society: A caste census militates against the country’s social goal of evolving into a casteless society.
• Social and political repercussions: It will trigger caste politics and social conflict, and will set the clock back on nation-building.
• Solidify caste identities:The census will solidify caste identities, accentuate casteism and caste divisions.
• Demands for more reservations: Demands for more reservations that political parties will have to concede will sound the death-knell for meritocracy, adversely affect governance and delivery of services and drive away human capital.
• Dara inaccuracies: There is a risk that the data collected in a caste-based census would be inaccurate. This is because people may be reluctant to disclose their caste status, or they may give false information.

Centre’s Stand:

• In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Union government has stated that a caste census was unfeasible due to administrative difficulties and cumbersome process.
• It argues that the judiciary cannot direct the government to conduct a caste census because it is a “policy decision” not to do so, and the judiciary cannot interfere with government policy.
• Unlike in the case of the SCs and the STs, there is no constitutional mandate for the Registrar-General and Census Commissioner, India, to provide the census figures of the Other Backward Classes and the Backward classes.

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