The case for caste census in India

Source: This post has been created based on the article “The case for caste census in India” published in The Hindu on 13^th October 2023.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2 Social Justice — Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

News: This article discusses the disparities in the incidence of poverty, as well as education and employment among the various caste-groups. It also analyses the reasons for the demand and opposition to caste census in India, and ascertains its necessity.

The recent caste survey in Bihar has found that 63% of Bihar’s population belongs to the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories.

What is the relation between caste, religion, poverty and discrimination?

The intersection between class and caste-based deprivation in Indian society is evident.

1) National Sample Survey (NSS) 2011-12: The average monthly per-capita consumption expenditures of ST, SC and OBC households in rural as well as urban areas were lesser than that of the General category.

2) National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4/2015-16): The persistence of inequality across caste categories in India can also be seen in its multidimensional poverty estimates.

3) Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI): 28% of all Indians were multidimensionally poor in 2015-16, however, 50.6% STs and 33.3% SCs were poor.
Also, poverty among Muslims was at 31% (higher than other religious communities).

What is the relation between caste and education and employment outcomes?

1) NSS 75th round (2017-18): General category has a much higher proportion of literates, secondary and high school pass outs, graduates and post-graduates than OBCs, SCs and STs.

2) PLFS 2021-22: Over 30% of the workforce in the General category had a regular job, while among OBCs and SCs it was around 20% and among STs just over 12%.

3) Similarly, STs, SCs and OBCs were overrepresented in casual labourers, compared to the general category.

4) Informal sector is largely populated with STs, SCs and OBCs while the General category has a disproportionately large share of formal employment.

This indicates that caste-inequality in educational outcomes is reproducing a similar pattern of caste-inequality in skilled, formal employment.

In this backdrop, the demand for a nationwide caste census has gathered momentum.

Why is there a demand for a caste census?

1) Wide divergence of the OBC population figures in the various official sample surveys.

2) Ascertaining the numbers of individual castes within the OBC category has become important due to concerns regarding benefits for OBCs getting concentrated among certain dominant caste groups.

Why is there opposition to a caste census?

There are apprehensions that it might trigger demands for enhancing the 27% reservation quota for OBCs and breaching the 50% limit set by the judiciary in Indra Sawhney case.

What is the historical backdrop of caste surveys?

Caste wise enumeration of the population was introduced under the British colonial administration in 1881 and continued till the 1931 census.

Independent India’s governments abandoned full caste enumeration on the apprehension that it would strengthen caste divisions and perpetuate the caste system.

What should be done?

Justice Rohini Commission, which was constituted in 2017 by the Modi government to examine the sub-categorisation of OBCs in the Central list, submitted its report in August 2023.

A nationwide socio-economic caste census is necessary to evolve scientific criteria for such sub-categorisation.

This would also be necessary for all States, which have their own State-level OBC lists, given the wide variety in caste composition.