Modi Govt accepts Opposition Caste challenge

In a major step, the Modi government has bitten the bullet on caste enumeration and has decided to include it in the next Census in what is seen as a move to deflate the bid of Congress and its INDIA alliance partners to make caste a rallying point against the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The decision is politically significant as this will be the first time a caste count will be conducted since 1932, when the last such exercise was carried out.

Announcing the decision, information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw squarely targeted the Congress, saying the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) failed to conduct a caste census in 2011 and instead settled for a “survey” called the Socio-Economic and Caste Census. Similarly states have also conducted surveys and the power to conduct a nation-wide caste census lies only with the Centre.

The SECC’s caste count conducted during the UPA tenure was never made public either by the Manmohan Singh government or the subsequent National Democratic Alliance (NDA), as it was reported to be beset with inaccuracies, as sub-castes and sects were listed as separate castes.

“India will conduct caste enumeration as part of the upcoming population census this year,” Vaishnaw said on Wednesday after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA). Acknowledging the possibly contentious aspects of such an exercise, he said the census will be conducted fairly and harmoniously.

Briefing reporters, Vaishnaw said “Congress governments have always opposed caste census. Caste was not included in all the Census operations conducted since independence. In 2010, then Prime Minister the late Manmohan Singh had assured the Lok Sabha that the matter of caste should be considered in the Cabinet. A group of ministers (GoM) was formed to consider this subject. Most of the political parties had recommended a caste census. Despite this, the Congress government decided to conduct only a survey of caste instead of a caste census.”

Congress, along with other members of the INDIA alliance, have demanded a caste census, arguing that this will allow a better allocation of national resources and correct the imbalance against weaker sections. The political rationale behind the redistributive proposal is to try and corner the BJP as identity politics could, the opposition hopes, weaken the ruling party’s Hindutva tent that has pulled in OBCs (Other Backward Castes) and a section of Dalits and tribals.

The BJP leadership has been discussing the issue with Home Minister Amit Shah, previously stating that the inclusion of a caste count in the national census can be considered. The subject could have figured in a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rashtriya Swaywamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday while the current India-Pakistan tensions seemed the immediate context.

“As per Article 246 of the Constitution of India, the subject census is listed at 69 in the Union list in the seventh schedule. According to the Constitution of India, census is a Union subject,” he emphasised.

States have carried out “surveys” but these are very different from enumerating caste in a Census, a subject that falls in the Centre’s purview. Such surveys have been carried out in Bihar and Karnataka.

Vaishnaw alleged that the Congress and its INDI alliance partners have used caste census only as a political tool.

He went on to say that some states have conducted surveys to enumerate caste. “Some states have conducted this well while some others have conducted it purely from a political angle in a non-transparent way.”

Explaining the need for a national caste census, Vaishnaw said that, “Such surveys have created doubts in society. Considering all these facts and to ensure that our social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be transparently included in the Census instead of surveys.”

He said that such an exercise will strengthen the social and economic structure of our society while the nation continues to progress.

“Under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs has decided today that caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census,” he said, adding that this move demonstrates that this government is committed to the values and interests of our society, like in the past when the government introduced a 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections of the society without causing stress in any section of our society.

The 2025 census will be done in two phases. Every Census in independent India from 1951 to 2011 has published data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but not on other castes. Before that, every Census until 1931 had data on caste.

In recent years caste has been used as a political tool by the Congress and its partners to claim that OBCs and other weaker sections of society have been discriminated against. The Congress has promised to remove the 50% cap on reservations if it is voted to power. The 50% cap is mandated by the Supreme Court. At a recent event, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that, “Congress will conduct X-ray of India through caste census for benefit of socially backward classes.”

This has not fetched the Congress and other opposition parties the electoral dividends they had hoped for. But that has not prevented the drumbeat for a “Caste Census” from continuing for years now.

In contrast, the BJP has never opposed the enumeration of caste but has always wanted to take that step in a manner that does not polarize society. Its preferred mode of carrying out that exercise is through a Census and not in a piecemeal manner through state-by-state “surveys.” A survey, even the best-designed one, is only a sampling of society, while a Census enumerates each and every person in the country. The dangers of omissions in the latter are minimal.

BACKGROUNDER ON CASTE CENSUS AND RESERVATIONS

1) The history of reservations in India is more than a century old. Reservations were first pioneered in Madras State (as Tamil Nadu was then known as) during the rule of the Justice Party. In 1921 the Madras government issued the Communal General Order (GO) that prescribed admissions to educational institutions in strict fixed proportions for different communities. This was to break the “monopoly” of Brahmins in education, professions and government services. The Congress, which replaced the Justice Party in 1940s, continued with the GO.

2) In June 1950, the GO was challenged by one Champakam Dorairajan who could not secure admission to a medical college. On 27 July 1950, the Madras High Court found that the GO violated the Constitution (Articles 15(1) and 29(2). The Madras HC judgment was challenged in the Supreme Court. But a year later, on 9th April 1951, the apex court upheld the Madras HC judgment.
3) Two months later, on 18th May, the Jawaharlal Nehru government amended the Constitution to enable reservations and over-ride the judgment of the Supreme Court.

4) Interestingly, a decade after amending the Constitution to permit reservations, Nehru openly stated his dislike for reservations. In a letter to chief ministers of Indian states on 27 June, 1961, he said, “They (SCs and STs) deserve help, but even so, I dislike any kind of reservation, more particularly in Services. I react strongly against anything which leads to inefficiency and second rate standards…The moment we encourage the second rate, we are lost.” He went on to say that reservations would “…swamp the bright and able people and remain second or third rate. I am grieved to learn how far this business of reservation has gone based on communal considerations.”

5) The politics of reservations gathered steam in the coming years. In 1953, the Centre appointed the Kaka Saheb Kalelkar Commission to determine the criteria to identify “socially and economically backward classes” and recommend steps to ameliorate their condition. The Commission recommended reservation for these classes in educational institutions as well as reservations in government services. Most interestingly, the Commission also recommended caste enumeration in the Census. The government rejected the Commission’s recommendations.

6) The last time caste enumeration was carried out in a Census was in 1932 during British rule. After Independence, governments stopped including caste in the Census as it felt this spurred divisiveness in society.
7) After that the issue of reservations for Backward Classes (BC) went into quietus until the recommendations of the Mandal Commission were revived during the time of VP Singh as Prime Minister.
8) Singh faced political turbulence in his party against Northern leaders like Devi Lal of Haryana. To cut him to size, with the aide of Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar of Bihar, he accepted the Mandal recommendations and implemented them.

9) At that time, the Congress leader of opposition, Rajiv Gandhi, vehemently opposed reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Parliament in a well-known speech. Gandhi felt this would create divisions in society.

10) The same kind of backroom politics over caste reservations and Census played out in the INDI Alliance. Last year JDU leader Lalan Singh described how his party was in favour of a caste census and two meetings were held to pass a resolution on the issue. “But he did not pass the resolution under pressure from Mamata Banerjee. Today he is shedding crocodile tears. When we got the census done, has Rahul Gandhi even praised in Bihar to date? He is just giving a slogan to confuse the public,” Singh had said explaining what transpired in meetings of the INDI Alliance that was crafted to pin down the Modi government and present an alternative to the Indian people in 2024.

11) The Modi government’s decision is part of the plan to thwart the Opposition’s attempt to split Hindu votes on caste lines. In the wake of the decision to conduct caste enumeration in the forthcoming Census, Gandhi has demanded that the 50% quota cap prescribed by the Supreme Court be lifted. He has also demanded reservations in the private sector.

Ashwini VaishnawBJPcaste censusCongressNews BriefOther Backward ClassesUPAWeb Exclusive