:: Editorial

Is caste census a good idea now?

Sept.17 : The caste census had been left behind in 1931, when the British were still around, but casteism continues to be a malign presence in Indian life. After the political tremors caused in the late 1980s and the early 1990s in the wake of the conceptual understanding flowing from the report of the Mandal Commission (which lay in cold storage for years), recent developments suggest that there could possibly be a renewal of debate on the status of backward castes and classes, and a revival of the enumeration of population on a caste basis. This has the potential to cause introspection within parties, and also possibly ruptures. At the end of the colonial era, India adopted the democratic charter for itself because that was seen as the way to bring the idea of a reasonably decent life to all sections of people in a country that was mired in poverty and superstition, and deeply segmented along lines of caste. Since the notion of caste in the Hindu structure is descended from religious sanction, casteism is unlikely to be eliminated as a thought category or as an arena of social activity. However, antagonisms as between castes — especially between the so-called upper castes and those that come lower down in the traditional hierarchy — can be substantially eased or even be removed if economic benefits are spread across the spectrum. That is apparently the idea behind the proposal to revive the caste census made by law and justice minister M. Veerappa Moily in a recent letter to the Prime Minister. However, issues of this nature are seldom not contentious.

It transpires that the official Rural Households Survey of 2002, which has only recently been published, places the population of OBCs residing in the rural areas at 38.5 per cent. This cannot be the total OBC population in the country, but villages clearly should have the overwhelming bulk of backward caste people. This is broadly in accord with the 35 per cent indicated by the National Sample Survey. However, the Mandal Commission estimates, which were projections of the 1931 census, posited that 52 per cent of India could be classified as backward caste. Since political battles on the backward caste issue were under the Mandal Commission banner, the benefits to these sections that accrued in terms of reservations in employment and university enrolment were also guided by this statistical understanding. Since then court rulings have accepted the 50 per cent mark as the upper limit for reservations. If a figure lower than this is proposed, those currently enjoying the benefits are likely to be aggrieved, and this can show up in the stance of political parties and various interest groups. That would be a sad day indeed. Probably, that is why Mr Moily’s suggestion of revival of a caste survey through the 2011 census might have some practical benefits.