Indian Opposition Demands Caste Census Reform Amid Criticism

The leaders' joint letter, written in Hindi on August 20, rejects the current open-ended question format for recording caste details in the census, which they claim is misleading and will disadvantage marginalized communities.

The opposition's criticism of the government's approach to caste enumeration stems from concerns over the impact on marginalized communities. In their joint letter, Kharge and Gandhi argued that if members of the same caste are recorded under different names during the census, a single caste could end up being fragmented into thousands of distinct names.

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This would result in a list of hundreds of thousands of caste names, rendering the entire dataset obtained from the caste census useless. The leaders also pointed out that this approach will fail to reveal the size of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) population in India, as the term 'Backward Class' is not even included in this census.

The opposition leaders demanded that the government scrap the existing questionnaire and formulate a new one after consulting political parties, experts, and the general public. They suggested introducing a drop-down list of castes, similar to the method used for enumerating Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).

This same method was employed in the caste surveys conducted in Telangana and Bihar, according to Kharge and Gandhi. They also pointed out that such a list can be easily compiled using existing government records, such as those for socially and educationally backward classes and data from the Anthropological Survey of India.

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The government should scrap the existing questionnaire and formulate a new one after consulting political parties, experts, and the general public; this would ensure that the true numbers of every caste and community are revealed, making the caste census accurate, meaningful, and beneficial," Kharge and Gandhi shared.

Along with their letter, the leaders enclosed copies of the caste lists from the Telangana Caste Survey (2024) and the Bihar Caste Survey (2022).

Leaders of the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament, Mallikarjun Kharge (Rajya Sabha) and Rahul Gandhi (Lok Sabha), have written a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling for that the Centre scrap the existing questionnaire for the caste census. They urged the government to formulate a new questionnaire after extensive consultations with political parties, experts, and the general public.

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In their joint letter, written in Hindi on August 20, Kharge and Gandhi rejected the current methodology for caste enumeration. “Your government has opted for an open-ended question format to record caste details in the census, which is misleading. Under this method, whatever name an individual provides for their caste will be recorded as it is,” the leaders stated.

Addressing a press conference on the letter, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh characterised the government's current efforts towards a caste census as a mere “whitewash”. Ramesh asserted this was the third letter the Congress leadership wrote to the Prime Minister on the issue, which has so far gone unanswered.

In their joint letter, Kharge and Gandhi stated that social justice policies in India cannot be effectively implemented without accurate data, and that a precise assessment of the numerical strength and socio-economic status of various castes is possible only if the caste enumeration is conducted. In India, the same caste is known The Congress leaders stated that if members of the same caste are recorded under different names during the census, a single caste could end up being fragmented into thousands of distinct names.

This would result in a list of hundreds of thousands of caste names, rendering the entire dataset obtained from the caste census useless, they stated. Don’t expect a formal announcement or funeral “If the actual population of a community is not accurately recorded, any assessment of its status will also be flawed.

This will disadvantage backward, extremely backward, and other marginalised communities, and will impact decisions related to education, employment, welfare schemes, and social justice,” read the letter. Most importantly, this approach will fail to reveal the size of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) population in India, as the term 'Backward Class' is not even included in this census, they stated.

Drop-down lists of castes Offering a practical solution, Kharge and Gandhi suggested introducing a drop-down list of castes, similar to the method used for enumerating Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). They noted that such a list can be easily compiled using existing government records, such as those for socially and educationally backward classes and data from the Anthropological Survey of India.

This same method was employed in the caste surveys conducted in Telangana and Bihar, they pointed out. “We do not accept the caste census being conducted in the current manner.

The government should scrap the existing questionnaire and formulate a new one after consulting political parties, experts, and the general public; this would ensure that the true numbers of every caste and community are revealed, making the caste census accurate, meaningful, and beneficial," Kharge and Gandhi stated. Along with their letter, the leaders enclosed copies of the caste lists from the Telangana Caste Survey (2024) and the Bihar Caste Survey (2022).