Justice for All

THE BJP-LED Union government has announced caste enumeration as part of the next national Census. It resulted in a heated debate on the socio-political impact of a caste census. The Congress-led I.N.D.I.A. bloc had also raised the demand for a caste census but BJP leaders like Gopinath Munde in 2009, Sushma Swaraj in 2010-11, Rajnath Singh in 2018 and Amit Shah in 2023 had either demanded or promised a caste census. The colonial-era Census used to collect caste data but it stopped after 1931. After Independence, the Congress government led by Jawaharlal Nehru had opposed caste-based reservations and, as a result, caste enumeration had ended. This reinvention of a caste-based national Census has several political implications.

First of all, caste data will be collected by means of a well-designed and rigorous methodology in a transparent exercise. It will reduce rumours, competitive jealousies and possible conflicts. Various state governments, psephologists and market research groups had collected multiple sets of caste data, which often cause confusion about the structural mobility of caste. Caste enumeration in the national Census will make much of this information redundant. That’s not to say the Census will wipe out these other sets of data, but such data could supplement or contradict other sets of caste data in circulation. Much of this data actually reflects the political posturing of those who gather it. So, a neutral collection of caste data is the need of our time.

Second, the NDA government’s initiative will demolish the Congress-led Opposition’s strategy of mobilising OBCs and SCs/STs. BJP can retain its trust among these communities having, in a few decades, successfully expanded its base among OBCs and Dalits. Congress’ strategy of creating misgivings about BJP on the Constitution, reservations and caste census cost the latter OBC and Dalit votes in the 2024 General Election.

The announcement of a caste-based Census can now help BJP disarm Congress and other regional parties. The impact on the coming Assembly elections in Bihar and Tamil Nadu, both OBC dominant states, may be huge. On the other hand, this move may compel Congress and its allies to develop new electoral strategies, for which they do not have enough time. As a matter of fact, they have lost their effective strategy for the coming elections.

Third, the exercise will help document and understand the shifts in the structures of dominance and dominated, the empowered and the disempowered.

There are constant shifts in social and power structures due to government policies, welfare schemes and development programmes. Developmental and democratic initiatives that reach communities make them socially, economically and politically mobile.

The nature of land transfer, growing entrepreneurial strength as well as greater access to education and the ability to aspire have brought a lot of changes to the structures of dominance in India. One can also observe an upward movement of castes, communities and classes from below the poverty line to the lower middle class.

Thus, there are observable changes in the domains of vulnerability and marginalities. The enumeration of caste data in the national Census may help us understand these changes in society, progress and power.

Caste data and related information will enable the government to frame policies and strategies for their implementation for the equal dissemination of democratic resources. It is also going to change the form and content of our politics by ensuring representation of communities which are still marginalised. Taken together, the socio-political and policy consequences of a national Census with the enumeration of caste data will bring essential change to the politics of democracy and social empowerment.

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