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The Union Government has finally yielded to the demands of various pressure groups for conducting a caste census side by side with the next normal census operation (2021) as and when it is

held. The latest announcement about the next census (The Statesman, May 1) is the outcome of these demands. Announcing the government decision and Cabinet nod on conducting the next census,

the Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that this shall be the first caste census in independent India. Two notable unusual aspects regarding the time of this announcement are a) there is

hardly one month left for the Bihar Assembly elections ~ and incidentally, Bihar happens to be the first state to conduct a caste-based survey in the country, and b) it took the government

more than seven years’ time to finalise what it announced in 2018. Earlier, in 2021, the government categorically reported to the Supreme Court that conducting a caste census is an

administratively difficult process as it is prone to errors. Depending on this plea of the Union government, the Apex Court dismissed a petition filed by the Maharashtra Government on giving

direction to the government to conduct a caste census. Advertisement Conducting a census at eve – ry ten-year interval is a constitu – tional obligation of the Government of India, which

helps not only in updating the country’s baseline data system in almost all spheres but also helps the government in taking appropriate policy decisions. The 17th Census, which was supposed

to be conducted in the year 2021 initially, was kept in abeyance due to the precarious situation prevailing in the country generated by the spread of Covid-19. But even thereafter, the

government did not appear keen to conduct Census 2021. In this context, we may note that there were as many as 233 countries that were supposed to go for a census immediately after 2020, of

which 143 countries have completed the census operation, including the People’s Republic of China. Advertisement Those which could not yet resume the process have their own internal

problems, such as Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, etc. However, India, despite having no such problems, delayed the census, and even in the present declaration, the

government has not spelled out any definite time frame for commencing the next census operation. In the absence of census data, people are today using the projected population data published

by the technical committee of the health and family welfare department. But the projected data cannot be equivalent to the census data, and it has only limited use. In fact, the co – untry

today is using data which are based on the 15-year-old data ~ i.e., data from the 2011 census. The issue of conducting a caste census gained momentum after Bihar came up with the res – ults

of their caste-based survey in 2024. Although the central government submitted an affidavit before the apex court stating that administratively a caste census is not possible to conduct,

during the assembly elections in five states last year, whenever the issue came up, the BJP toned down its voice, saying that they are not averse to it. However, all along the course of the

elections, it remained noncommittal. Meanwhile, the Congress has made it a poll promise in those five states that had gone to elections in the last round. The issue was hot at that time, as

Bihar had shown the way as to how to go about it. On Gandhi Jayanti last year, the government of Bihar declared the results of the caste census in the form of certain tables showing

population data, which, however, were not authenticated by any government functionaries. The government neither published it under an official notification nor was it published under an

Office Memorandum. To date, Bihar has not disclosed the methodology adopted for capturing the caste data for their caste-based survey. We cannot refer to what Bihar has conducted as a

census. Bihar named it a “caste-ba – sed survey.” The census as a subject is included in Serial No. 69 of the Central List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. As such, it is the

exclusive domain of the Central government to conduct any type of census in India. For this purpose, a Census Office is there under the name and style of the Office of the Registrar General

of India (ORGI), which is entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the census in the country. As such, until the ORGI conducts a census operation under the Census of India Act 1948,

covering castes in India, any thing done in this regard cannot be termed as a caste census. Bihar conducted their caste-based survey under the Collection of Statistics Act 2008, which is a

Central Act and came into force in 2010. This Act was mainly enacted to enable the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) to collect various statistics concerning India

or any State on various subjects. Section 3 of the Act provides that the central government or any State Government by notification in the official gazette, may collect data concerning the

economic, demographic, social, scientific, and environmental aspects of that State as per the procedure laid down in the Act but not on the issues specified in the Central List of the

Constitution. It is to be noted here that the last caste-based census was conducted in the year 1931, and thereafter no census has taken up enumerations of castes. J. H. Hutton, who was the

Census Commissioner for India at the time of the 1931 census, incorporated a note on the caste data touching upon all physical and social anthropological elements present in the caste

populace of India, which is a must-read text for all Indians. His note gives the idea that the concept of caste was not well developed at that time, and it was rather fluid, and he gave

meaningful explanations for the inclusion of the co – mmunities within the category heading “tribe, caste, or race.” Within his framework for castes, Brahmins, Kayasths, Anglo-Indians, and

Europeans all found a place. Many of those included are now in the list of Scheduled Castes of various states, and very few are still in the list of OBC and MOBC. Following the findings of

the 1931 Census, the Mandal Commission ~ the second OBC Commission ~ estimated the total OBC population of India at 52 per cent. The Commission deducted 1) the SC and ST population (15.05 +

7.52 = 22.56 per cent), 2) non-Hindu communities’ groups (16.16 per cent), and forward Hindu castes like Brahmins, Rajput Marathas, etc. (17.58 per cent) from the total population to get the

backward Hindu castes at 43.70 per cent. As there were also OBC groups within the non-Hindu religious groups, the commission added half of the non-Hindu religious groups as stated above,

i.e., (half of 16.16 per cent) = 8.40 per cent to 43.70 per cent so as to get finally the estimated population of OBC communities of all religious groups at 52 per cent. The Commission’s

suggestions in regard to reservation of jobs and seats in the educational institutions were that 52 per cent reservation cannot be given to the OBCs in view of the Supreme Court’s direction

not to cross the 50 per cent limit of the reservation and that as already 22.5 per cent reservation had been offered to SC & STs; the remaining 27 per cent may be kept reserved for OBCs.

The recent government statement made it amply clear that the next census will be the basis of the forthcoming exercise of delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies scheduled to

be held after 2026, which has been pending since 1976. The government in 1976, vide the 42nd Constitution Amendment Act, amended Articles 82 and 170 to freeze the process of delimitation

till the year 2000. It was then proposed to take up the delimitation exercise after the availability of the latest census data conducted just after the year 2000. But the government

preferred to extend the freezing process further for 25 years and accordingly amended the constitutional provisions in 2003 under which the delimitation process was further kept in abeyance

for another 25 years, i.e., till 2026. The amendment reads that the census operation made after 2026 shall be the basis of the next delimitation process. There is scope to believe that this

is the reason why the government delayed the process of census operation and dragged it to the present stage. There is every possibility that the government might take up conducting the

census operation immediately after 2026 and complete it as quickly as possible. Although parallel enumeration of OBCs would be a difficult task, the Ministry appears to be quite hopeful that

this could be done as the census will be taken online. Once the census is completed, the government can take up the matter of delimitation utilizing the census data and hold the next

general election nationwide in 2029 under its agenda of one nation, one election. (The writer is a former IAS officer who retired as Secretary, Finance, Government of Assam) Advertisement