Govt says caste enumeration to be part of next census, a Congress demand for over a year

In a major decision, and with Bihar elections upcoming, the Union government on Wednesday announced that caste enumeration would be included in the forthcoming census exercise in a “transparent” manner, and hit out at Opposition parties for using the caste survey as a “political tool”.

Opposition parties, most notably the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, have been demanding a nationwide caste census, making it a major election issue. Bihar showed the way with a caste survey in 2023, following which Telangana and Karnataka — both with Congress governments at the helm — have conducted similar surveys.

Announcing the decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the census comes under the purview of the Centre, but some states have done caste enumerations in the name of surveys “non-transparently”, which has created doubts in society.

While the minister did not specify what these 'doubts' could be, his comments could as easily be construed as an attempt to put a brave face on what appears to be a capitulation to an Opposition demand that has been at the forefront of national politics for over a year.

As Congress MP and general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh posted on X, "Better late than never." Ramesh also took pains to point out Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a caste census, nearly two years ago. "Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge had written this letter to the PM. Need anything more be said?" he asked.

Noting that caste was not included in all census operations conducted since Independence, Vaishnaw alleged that the Congress governments have always opposed a caste census and the party had used the issue as a political tool.

“Considering all these facts and to ensure that the social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be transparently included in the Census instead of surveys,” he said, adding that this will strengthen the social and economic structure of our society while the nation continues to progress. A belated realisation of potential political benefits?

The minister alleged that the states ruled by Opposition parties (insert 'Congress') conducted caste surveys for political reasons and emphasised that the Modi government has resolved to "transparently" include caste enumeration in the forthcoming pan-India census exercise.

The Congress and the Opposition INDIA bloc had made the nationwide caste census a major poll plank in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with Rahul Gandhi promising representation to people based on their population.

The national census exercise was to commence in April 2020 but was delayed owing to the Covid pandemic, despite the fact that over 80 per cent of the world's countries completed a census despite Covid, as claimed by Kharge earlier this month.

Vaishnaw said in 2010, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had assured the Lok Sabha that the matter of a caste census should be considered in the Cabinet. A group of ministers was formed to consider this after most of the political parties had recommended a caste census.

“Despite this, the Congress government decided to conduct only a survey instead of a caste census. That survey is known as SECC. It is well understood that the Congress and its INDI alliance partners have used Caste Census only as a political tool,” the minister alleged, without mentioning that the Manmohan Singh government was out of power by 2014.

He said under Article 246 of the Constitution, the subject ‘census’ is listed in the Union list under entry 69 and according to the Constitution, the Census is a Union subject. Again, not exactly a huge secret.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided today (30th April 2025) that caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming Census,” the minister said.

“This demonstrates that our government is committed to the values and interests of our society and country, like in the past when our government had introduced 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections of the society without causing stress in any section of the society,” Vaishnaw said at the briefing.

With PTI inputs