"Just By Adding An Extra Column…”: Jairam Ramesh Presses For Caste Census As Centre Mulls Next Steps

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has once again called for a comprehensive caste census, urging the Union government to take the opportunity to expand the data collected during the next Census exercise. In a statement, Congress’ general secretary in charge of communications pressed that the longstanding demand for caste enumeration, particularly for the Other Backward Classes (OBC), can be easily fulfilled by “just adding an extra column” to the existing Census questionnaire.

India, which has historically conducted a nationwide Census every ten years, last held such an exercise in 2011. The 2021 Census, scheduled to begin during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been repeatedly delayed. Ramesh pointed out that this delay has had significant repercussions, including the exclusion of over 12 crore Indians from welfare schemes such as the National Food Security Act and the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. He stressed that without timely census data, vital information required for economic planning and social justice initiatives remains uncollected.

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“The continuing failure to conduct this 2021 Census has meant that vital information necessary for economic planning and for social justice programmes has not been collected. As a result, for instance, over 12 crore Indians have been denied due benefits under the National Food Security Act, 2013/PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana,” Ramesh wrote on X.

Ramesh noted that every Census since 1951 has included caste data for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). He argued that incorporating caste data for the OBC population would strengthen affirmative action programmes, which rely on accurate population data. He further reminded that the responsibility for conducting the Census lies solely with the Union government, as per the Constitution of India.

India has been conducting a Census regularly every ten years. The last such Census was due in 2021. The continuing failure to conduct this 2021 Census has meant that vital information necessary for economic planning and for social justice programmes has not been collected. As a… pic.twitter.com/jSxKdKLsKM

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 22, 2024

Ongoing Deliberations

The debate over including caste data in the next Census has gained momentum, with government sources confirming that discussions are ongoing, The Hindu reported. However, no final decision has been reached. A senior official told The Hindu that one of the major reasons for the delay is the political demand for a caste census. “Any wrong narrative could derail the entire exercise,” the source explained.

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While caste data has traditionally been collected only for SC and ST communities, the demand for extending this to the OBC population has grown louder in recent years, especially after the INDIA alliance parties had made the caste census a major campaign issue during the last general elections. The last attempt to conduct a caste count came in 2011 under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. However, the findings from this separate Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) were never made public due to discrepancies in the data, which included a list of over 46 lakh castes and sub-castes. This, according to reports, led to the government’s conclusion that the data was unreliable for policy-making purposes, especially in areas such as education, employment, and local elections.

The Census Exercise

India’s census is an enormous logistical undertaking, covering over 1.4 billion people. It was, in the past, conducted in two phases: the first being House Listing and Housing Schedule, and the second Population Enumeration. Originally planned to take place in 2020 and 2021, the exercise has been pushed back multiple times, most recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent delays in freezing administrative boundaries, which is a prerequisite for the Census.

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The upcoming Census is expected, according to reports, to be the first fully digital Census, allowing citizens to fill in the questionnaire online. However, the freezing of administrative boundaries, which expired on June 30, 2023, remains a major hurdle. The boundary freeze has been extended ten times since 2019, further delaying preparations for the Census.

Several states, including Bihar and Karnataka, have already conducted their own caste censuses. Bihar, in particular, completed a comprehensive survey in 2023, and the results have been made public. The move has further fuelled calls for a nationwide caste census to provide a clearer understanding of India’s social structure.

The Census plays a crucial role in shaping government policy, with data informing everything from welfare distribution to infrastructure planning. The absence of updated information has hindered these efforts in recent years, particularly during the pandemic.