New Delhi: The Modi government Wednesday announced that caste enumeration will be part of the next census exercise, a decision coming amid the Opposition’s persistent demand for such a survey and in the run-up to Bihar elections.
The announcement also comes at a politically sensitive time, when the government is under pressure to respond militarily to the Pahalgam terror attack, for which it has blamed Pakistan.
The census exercise was due in 2021 but was postponed in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. While the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, green-signalled the caste survey Wednesday, the government is yet to take a call on the date for the start of the next census.
Caste was never included in any census since Independence. The Congress-led UPA government had in 2011 enumerated caste data as part of its Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), but the figures were never made public.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told a cabinet briefing here Wednesday that the CCPA’s decision demonstrates that the government is “committed to the values and interests of our society and the country.”
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, however, questioned the timing of the announcement.
“The timing is very interesting,” he told ThePrint. “I genuinely hope it is not headline management considering it was this government which went to the Supreme Court to oppose caste survey, which was part of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), tooth and nail.”
The Modi-led NDA government had in 2021 ruled out a caste census. In a reply to Lok Sabha, the Centre had said that it had decided, as a matter of policy, not to enumerate caste-wise data beyond SCs and STs. In its affidavit submitted in the Supreme Court, the Centre had said that “population Census is not the ideal instrument for collection of details on caste” as “the operational difficulties are so many that there is a grave danger that basic integrity of Census data may be compromised and the fundamental population could itself get distorted”.
Since then, the BJP had maintained an ambiguous stance on the issue, often accusing the Congress of using the caste census demand to create societal divisions.
The Modi-led NDA government had challenged the caste data enumerated in the SECC. In its affidavit submitted in the Supreme Court, it had said the caste data was full of mistakes and inaccuracies.
The Congress and other opposition parties were quick to call the announcement their victory. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been raising the demand for a caste census for the past few years. The MP has alleged the NDA government was not conducting caste census deliberately. Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said it is a proud moment that Rahul Gandhi’s vision has now become a policy.
“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,” Reddy posted on social media platform X.
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… pic.twitter.com/7dNABdwqM7
— Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) April 30, 2025
RJD MP Manoj Jha called it a victory of “Bahujan abadi” (the oppressed population). “The Centre had to bow to our demand and agree to conduct a caste census. It’s the victory of Bahujan abadi,” Jha said, adding that Bihar had conducted a caste survey on its own way back in 2023.
“I want to ask the BJP government now – what will it do with all its leaders who have been saying that caste census will lead to racism. The government should not keep it merely rhetorical and use it as a tool. They should get it conducted at the earliest along with the census and use the result for the development of the entire country,” he said in a video statement.
Former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa told ThePrint that by clubbing the caste survey with the main census, the NDA government has basically responded to the demand of the Opposition.
“The census operation (decadal exercise) is very robust and credible. It’s been going on since 1881. It makes sense if another parameter of caste is added formally to the exercise. It will make the whole process more credible, provided all relevant parameters are included in the census,” Lavasa said.
Also read: Chirag Paswan backs caste census, but not in favour of making data public. ‘Creates further division’
‘Caste surveys have created doubt in society’
At his press briefing, Vaishnaw said that according to Article 246 of the Constitution, census comes in the Union list and is in the seventh schedule.
“Some states have conducted surveys to enumerate caste. Some states have done it well while some states have conducted such surveys purely from a political angle in a non-transparent way. Such surveys have created doubts in the society,” Vaishnaw said.
He added that considering all these facts, and to ensure that India’s social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste census should be transparently included in the census instead of surveys. “This will strengthen the social and economic structure of our society while the nation continues to progress.”
Vaishnaw accused the Congress of making caste survey a “political tool”.
Congress governments, he said, have always opposed caste census. Caste was not included in all the census operations conducted since Independence.
“In 2010, late Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ji had assured the Lok Sabha that the matter of caste census should be considered in the cabinet. A group of ministers were formed to consider this… Most political parties had recommended a caste census. The Congress government had decided to only conduct a survey of caste. That survey is known as SECC. It is well understood, the Congress and its INDIA alliance partners have used it as a political tool,” he said.
Among the states, Bihar was the first to conduct a caste survey and publish its findings in 2023. In 2015, the Congress government in Karnataka also conducted a caste survey. The report is yet to be made public.
The report, submitted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in February 2024, had recommended increasing reservations for Backward Communities from the existing 32 percent to 51 percent, according to purportedly leaked portions of the report.
Telangana also conducted a caste survey last year. A statewide comprehensive Social, Economic, Caste Survey found that 56.32 percent of the population belongs to the Backward Castes, Reddy posted on X Wednesday.
Based on the report tabled in the Telangana assembly, the state also resolved and proposed 42 per cent reservations for OBCs in education, work and political positions, Reddy added.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also read: Telangana caste survey result is an opportunity and trap for Rahul Gandhi
