‘Caste census to be part of National Census’: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

The central government on Wednesday announced that caste enumeration will be a part of the National Census, an ANI report said.

According to the report, Union Minister for Railways and Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided today that Caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census.” Vaishnaw did not announce a date for beginning the census.

He also said that the census comes under the purview of the Centre but some states have done caste enumeration in the name of surveys.

Vaishnaw slams Congress

Alleging that the states ruled by opposition parties have done caste surveys for political reasons, the minister said it is PM Modi government's resolve to transparently include caste enumeration in the forthcoming pan-India census exercise, the report added.

Vaishnaw also accused the Congress and its INDI alliance parties to have “used the caste census only as a political tool”. “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,” he said.

“Most of the political parties have recommended a caste census. Despite this, the Congress government decided 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,” Vaishnaw was quoted as saying in the report.

“Some states have conducted surveys to enumerate castes. While some states have done this well, some others conducted such surveys only from a political angle in a non-transparent way. Such surveys created doubts in society. To ensure that our social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be included in the census instead of surveys,” he added.

The population survey, which is conducted once every decade, was due in 2021, but was delayed by the pandemic and technical and logistical hurdles.

What is Caste Census?

Just like a national census collects data on the age, gender, and demographical composition, a caste census is a population survey that collects data on the caste composition of a region or a country.

India has published caste data (from 1951 to 2011) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes only. In October 2023, findings of Bihar's caste survey were released by state CM Nitish Kumar. The survey had said that Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes constituted 63 per cent of the state's total population.

The EBCs (36 per cent) were the largest social segment in Bihar followed by the OBCs at 27.13 per cent.

Congress claims credit

Congress leader Pawan Khera, speaking to CNN-News18, said, “The timing is very interesting. We hope there is some sincerity behind the decision."

Khera further stated that Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has consistently called for a caste census. “We cannot forget Rahul Gandhi’s famous words—‘Jaati janganna hoke rahegi’ (The caste census will happen). I will say the government is with Rahul Gandhi," he added.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy also took to X to claim credit for the central government's decision. “Based on the vision and direction of Shri @RahulGandhi Ji who first demanded a nation-wide Caste Census during his historic #BharatJodoYatra Telangana is the first State to conduct caste survey last year. This was the first in Independent #India, the last one being in 1931 by the British,” Reddy wrote on X.

He also said that it was the Congress party in Telangana which took the “struggle” across the country, and protested at Jantar Mantar seeking that the central government agree for the caste census.

Congress leader Udit Raj also thanked Rahul Gandhi after the decision on caste census was announced and claimed that the BJP was forced to take this decision.

“Modi government was forced to conduct caste census. This is the victory of Congress. Bahujan Samaj thanks Rahul Gandhi ji, his continuous efforts paid off. BJP/RSS tried a lot to stop it but finally had to bow down,” he wrote in a post on X.

“Today, finally, we proved that what Telangana Does Today, India will follow tomorrow. It is a proud moment that Shri Rahul Gandhi has shown how his vision has become a policy even in opposition. We are proud that the actions of Telangana government for OBC empowerment have inspired the country and India has agreed to also follow the actions of our state,” Reddy wrote.

He also congratulated the Centre for deciding to conduct the caste census as part of the next national census. He thanked PM Modi and the Cabinet after the caste census announcement.

Karnataka's original caste census report 'missing’?

The BJP in Karnataka on Tuesday alleged that the original caste census report, prepared by the state government is missing, and claimed that it was currently with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

According to a PTI report, the BJP, along with some ruling party MLAs, raised some concerns over the alleged shortcomings in the original socio-economic and educational survey report, also referred to as the caste census report.

Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka had alleged that the entire report was "bogus" and called for a judicial probe into it. He further alleged that the original report is with the CM.

He was referring to the purported letter written to the government by former chairperson of the Karnataka State Backward Commission K Jayaprakash Hegde stating that the original copy of the caste census report was not available.

(With inputs from PTI)