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Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday, April 30 announced that the Union Cabinet has approved the inclusion of caste enumeration in the upcoming national census. Addressing the media

after a Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) meeting, Vaishnaw said, “Under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs has

decided today (April 30, 2025) that caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming Census. This demonstrates that our government is committed to the values and interests of our

society and the country, like in the past, when our government had introduced 10% reservations for economically weaker sections of society.”

In his remarks, Vaishnaw criticised the Congress party and its INDI alliance partners, accusing them of using the issue of caste census for political gain. “It is well understood that

Congress and its INDI alliance partners have used the caste census only as a political tool. Some states have conducted surveys to enumerate castes. While some states have done this well,

some others conducted such surveys only from a political angle in a non-transparent way. Such surveys created doubts in society. To ensure that our social fabric is not disturbed by

politics, caste enumeration should be included in the census instead of surveys,” he said.

He also hit out at Congress and blamed them for historically opposing the caste census. “Congress governments have always opposed the caste census. In 2010, the late Dr Manmohan Singh said

that the matter of caste census should be considered in the Cabinet. A group of ministers was formed to consider this subject. Most of the political parties have recommended a caste census.

Despite this, the Congress government conducted a caste survey not a caste census. Well understood that Congress and its India alliance partners have used caste census only as a political

tool," Vaishnaw stated.

While India’s post-independence censuses from 1951 to 2011 have included data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, they have not collected comprehensive data on other castes. The last

such exercise was conducted in 1931.