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Critical Topics and Their Significance for the UPSC CSE Examination on May 03, 2025

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Caste Census

For Preliminary Examination:  Current events of national and international Significance

For Mains Examination: GS II - Indian Polity & Governance

Context:

The next decennial Census of India is set to break new ground by including a detailed enumeration of caste—something that hasn’t been attempted since the British-era census of 1931. With the Centre indicating its willingness to capture OBC data, this marks a significant policy shift with far-reaching social and political implications.

Read about:

Legal requirements for caste enumeration

 OBC enumeration

Key takeaways:

• Since the 1951 Census, data has consistently recorded the population numbers of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and various religious communities. However, castes outside the SC and ST categories have not been officially enumerated.

• The last comprehensive caste data was gathered during the 1931 Census. Although the 1941 Census did include caste details, the results were never published, likely due to the disruptions caused by World War II. Following India’s independence, the government consciously chose to exclude caste data from the Census. Over time, political parties—especially those representing Other Backward Classes (OBCs), such as farming and artisanal communities—have repeatedly called for a caste-based census.

• The Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) aims to assess the socio-economic conditions of households in both rural and urban regions, using set parameters to rank them. Conducted in 2011, the SECC had three components, managed by different government bodies under the coordination of the Ministry of Rural Development. The Department of Rural Development (DoRD) handled rural areas, while urban data collection was overseen by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA). The caste-related component fell under the Ministry of Home Affairs, specifically the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.

• The Census Act of 1948 guarantees confidentiality for all Census data. However, the SECC differs, as it allows government access to individual-level data to help determine eligibility for welfare benefits.

• The recent decision to incorporate caste enumeration in the upcoming census, a major demand of the Congress-led Opposition, was made by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• After the meeting, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw, remarked that the inclusion of caste data would enhance the socio-economic fabric of the country as it continues to move forward.

• States not governed by the BJP, such as Telangana and Karnataka, had already undertaken their own caste surveys after the central government declined their requests for a nationwide caste census. Bihar also conducted a similar survey in 2023 when the JD(U), RJD, and Congress were in coalition. Until recently, the central government remained largely non-committal on this matter.

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