The SECC had identified thousands of castes and sub-castes, but was earlier termed “faulty” when it came to caste enumeration. The survey was conducted after then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had assured the Lok Sabha that the matter of caste census would be considered in the Cabinet. A Group of Ministers was subsequently formed to study the issue. Most political parties had supported the idea of a caste census.
According to Article 246 of the Constitution, Census falls under Entry 69 of the Union List in the Seventh Schedule, making it a Union subject. Officials pointed out that in 2018, the Modi government had announced that Census 2021 would include data on OBCs for the first time. “The decision on OBC enumeration,” an official said, “would have impacted 5% of the OBCs classified into 1,257 communities by the Mandal Commission in 1980.” However, the enumeration plan was later withdrawn due to the lack of a formal Union Cabinet decision.
“This time, the Cabinet has given a decision and will require to include a column for various castes in the Census form by introducing a column for each caste and sub-caste,” said another official.
Several NDA allies including JD(U), LJP, Apna Dal, and TDP have been consistently demanding a caste-based census. Suggestions have also been received for including sects within religions and adding a separate column for OBCs alongside the existing SC and ST categories. Another recommendation under discussion is the sub-categorisation of caste groupings while calculating their population.The decadal Census 2021, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2024 general elections, is expected to finally be conducted with these expanded parameters.