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National

Experts for caste census

Special Correspondent

“It will provide reliable data for formulating policies”

“It's not too late to add a column on caste”
“Courts have pointed to lack of reliable data as rationale for OBC quota”

Bangalore: A national conference attended by academics, policymakers, legal experts and activists here on Friday arrived at the consensus that enumeration of caste in the 2011 census is imperative to generate reliable data on social and economic conditions of various castes and provide a sound base for formulating policies.

Experts at the conference — organised by the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy and the National Law School of India University — felt that the ongoing census provided a precious opportunity to take up this mammoth and long-pending exercise, considering that the last caste enumeration was done way back in 1931.

Though there were some debates on whether the census should enumerate only Other Backward Classes or all castes, opinion was unanimous that such an exercise was necessary and the Census Organisation was the only competent and legitimate authority to take it up.

Dispelling doubts on enumeration of castes being impractical as the process had already begun, the former Census Commissioner and Registrar-General, M. Vijayan Unni, said what had been going on in States was only house listing and it was not too late to add a column on caste.

Arguments about passing on the responsibility to the Social Justice and Tribal Affairs Ministries or to the National Population Register were irrational as none of them had the infrastructure, experience or organisational base to undertake this task. He clarified that census would only enumerate castes, and not take on the responsibility of determining their forwardness or backwardness.

Emphasising the legal necessity of a caste census, Chairperson of the National Backward Classes Commission Justice M.N. Rao, and the former Chairman, Karnataka Backward Classes Commission, Ravi Varma Kumar, said courts had repeatedly pointed to lack of reliable data as rationale for OBC reservation. Mr. Kumar said such a census was necessary for a revision of the existing list of Backward Classes and to evolve a policy to remove from the list those who had ceased to be backward.

University Grants Commission chairman Sukhadeo Thorat said enumeration of castes was necessary to formulate evidence-based policies in a transparent way.

Satish Deshpande from the Delhi School of Economics emphasised the need to move from caste-blind to a caste-aware position and open opportunities for a rational discussion on related issues.

Communist Party of India leader and Rajya Sabha member D. Raja said the Council of Ministers deliberating caste census had sought the opinion of all parties by August first week.

A detailed summary of the deliberations of the conference would be sent to the Group of Ministers studying the issue.

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