Caste census: A process with wide-ranging ramifications

Political uncertainty and a wave of social bitterness could be triggered if the caste census is held amid the existing mistrust on policy issues between the Union government and the opposition.
Some castes are apprehensive about being marginalised while Muslims may feel that the exercise is aimed at fragmenting the community into castes and subcastes. Anxiety about the humongous process is also acute in Uttar Pradesh (UP) where caste remains critical to the success of political parties in elections.
Though the home ministry has said that the caste census will be held along with the census, Opposition parties are sceptical about the government's intentions, especially after the June 16 notification on the Census, which did not mention a word on holding a simultaneous caste census, as was announced earlier.
Thus, conducting the caste census, the first after the country's independence, in an atmosphere of mistrust will only deepen that deficit in the political domain and could spread disharmony in society. Perhaps it will be politically prudent for the government to allay fears on the exercise, which is not only gigantic but also has wide-ranging social implications.
The opposition's contention is that the BJP was opposed to the caste census as they believed it would divide the society, clearly reflected in their poll slogans 'batenge toh katenge' and 'ek rahoge toh safe rahoge', and has deliberately omitted it from the notification as, by the time the census will be done in 2027, elections would be over in Bihar as well as UP. The caste census is a major poll issue in Bihar and also for the BJP's ally, chief minister Nitish Kumar.
While the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress have questioned the motive behind the government's decision, and demanded complete transparency in carrying out the exercise, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national president Mayawati has demanded the government conduct the caste census with honesty.
Akhilesh Yadav, the SP national president, cast doubts on the government's intention the day the notification was issued. He said: 'We cannot trust this government and the party as they lie, their data is always faulty. They could not give factual data about the largest congregation of Hindus, the Kumbh Mela, or of the lives lost in the stampede. They manipulate figures, they have bungled the voters list and can also do the same with the caste census to harm the PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak).'
Yadav has directed party workers at the village and booth levels to collect voter and caste data and will likely have enough ammunition to fire in 2027 when the UP assembly polls are expected to be held.
Samajwadi Party leader Abhishek Mishra questioned government data. 'They can bungle data for political messaging, which will impact PDA and the Muslims. They can increase or decrease the population of some OBCs or Dalits, or even the upper castes, as a majority of the political decisions, in elections or in government formation, are based on their population. It's a perception battle in which the data can be manipulated to lower the population of Yadavs or increase the numbers of Jatavs or Brahmins to create confusion with respect to proportionate representation in various democratic institutions,' Mishra said.
Senior Congress leader in-charge of UP Avinash Pande, while questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's U-turn on the caste census, said' 'After several deferments on one pretext or the other, the Modi government issued notification for the census this month but did not mention caste census, which clearly displays their duplicity on such an important public issue. The government delayed the census using corona (Covid) as an alibi, but 189 of the 233 countries had completed the exercise during or after corona.'
He reiterated the Congress demand for the constitution of an all-party committee to decide the questionnaire in a transparent and productive manner.
'Rahul Gandhi has always demanded enumeration of all castes along with their social and economic conditions,' he said adding their slogan is 'jiski jitni aabadi, uski utni hissedari' (representation according to population). Pande reiterated the party's demand that the Telangana model be adopted for the census.
Dalits have another worry, which has been conveyed to the Union home minister, Amit Shah, by the National Confederation of Dalit and Adivasis Organisation.
In a letter to Amit Shah, posted on X, NACDOR chairman Ashok Bharti has highlighted how in the past, many a time, enumerators had estimated rather than accurately counting the SC and STs, who usually live on the outskirts or in isolated villages.
The letter stated, 'This has become even much more important in the light of extraordinary gazette, which allows self-enumeration. Without prejudice to any other provisions of these rules, a person may fill up, complete and submit the census schedule through self-enumeration. The enumerators may take refuge for not recording the details accurately under the pretext of self-enumeration.'
Thus, not only will implementing the caste census be a challenge but expect real politics over its report -- an intense battle on the population of castes.

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