It’s caste in census, finally

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(September 09, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Union Cabinet today approved inclusion of caste in the Census. The exercise will be held independently from next year. This was decided by the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today. Though the Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier opposed a caste headcount citing the practical difficulties of caste verification, it, according to reports, agreed to do a caste count without going into authentication of caste claims.

The issue was later referred by the Prime Minister to the Group of Ministers. The toss up was about doing the caste census along with the biometrics exercise for the population census, or separately.

As per the GoM’s recommendations, the caste census form will enlist the name, age and other personal details of the respondent, besides the caste he/she quotes.

The caste will be entered purely as per the claims of the respondents, and no verification will be done at the enumerator’s level.

The data will then be tabulated to arrive at the caste composition of the country on the basis on individual claims. The Census Commission will then publish these results of the caste census in a report.

No decision has been taken on having the data authenticated by either the Backward Castes Commission or the social justice ministry, which, if done, will make it a credible account of caste break-up of an area.

Such authenticated data, if generated, can be cited for quota and other benefits. Government sources reportedly said the door-to-door census where enumerators would only ask respondents their caste would cost the exchequer about Rs 2,000 crore.

This will be in addition to the R2,200 crore to be spent on the decadal, and more comprehensive, headcount. This would mean there could be two population figures.
One would be thrown up by the decadal headcount and another generated when the caste count is held. ‘The first one will be treated as the base, credible population figure,’ a government official said.

While people would be free not to report their caste, fears that some communities would exaggerate their numbers— as happened in Nagaland in the 2001 census— has forced the government to conduct the headcount twice.

The Union Cabinet has also reportedly decision to revoke President’s rule in Jharkhand, where BJP has staked claim to form government with JMM support, and conducting the caste census across the country.

A proposal of the Home Ministry to recommend to the President lifting of President’s rule from Jharkhand was placed before the cabinet meeting.