New Delhi. The exercise (pre-test) for the second phase of Census 2027 is going on in 16 states and union territories from July 6. This time to ask people about their caste open column A form has been placed in which they will give the name of their caste and the enumerator will record it. This exercise will continue till July 20, after which the government will decide the final process of caste census.
Experts believe that the method of writing caste in the open column cannot provide reliable data. If the caste name is asked openly, it may be difficult to get correct and useful data. The same method was adopted in the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) of 2011. Then people registered caste, sub-caste, gotra and surname in different ways, due to which about 46 lakh different caste names emerged. In comparison, the 1931 census, in which caste-wise data was last published, recorded only 4,147 castes. Due to such a large number of different names, the figures for 2011 were not considered useful. The Central Government had also told the Supreme Court in 2021 that there are so many errors in those figures that they cannot be used as a basis in matters like reservation.
Experts are suggesting that in the digital census, pre-prepared lists of castes and sub-castes should be made available in the handheld devices of the enumerators. Based on the information given by the respondent, the enumerator chose the correct option from the same list. This will not completely eliminate errors, but the data will be more organized and useful. A similar system was adopted in the caste-based census of Bihar for 2022-23, which gave comparatively better figures. In fact, like language, religion or gender, caste is not a natural identity, but a social identity formed on the basis of birth. The objective of the Constitution is to eliminate caste discrimination and to provide equal opportunities to all citizens. In such a situation, the question arises that when the aim is to reduce casteism, then why should caste be counted?
The answer is that even today social and economic inequalities exist on the basis of caste. In such a situation, accurate caste-wise data can help the government in better making policies like welfare schemes, reservation, creamy layer and sub-categorization of backward classes. If the caste name is asked openly, it may be difficult to get correct and useful data.
The conclusion is that if caste is to be calculated, it should be done in a scientific, uniform and accurate manner. The method of asking people to write caste only by giving open columns will not be able to achieve this objective.
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