Falling Over Caste

Will the demand for a caste census have a long-term impact ?

Indian politics is known for its fascination with the caste. Political parties in India have often played with the innate characteristics of caste to secure their vote banks. The zenith was reached in 1990 when the Vishwanath Pratap Singh government implemented the Mandal Commission report to extend a 27%. reservation for OBCs in government jobs, apart from the already existing 15% for SCs and 7% for STs. The adverse after-effects were catapulted to nationwide protest by the self-immolation of a student from Delhi that created much uproar. The entire episode tended towards a tectonic shift in Indian politics and threw up several leaders in national politics who played with caste. To ride over the tide of caste politics, and appease the upper caste vote bank among Hindus, BJP’s iconic leader, L.K. Advani embarked on his ‘Ram Rath Yatra’, calling for a resurgence of ‘Hindutva’ sentiments. His manoeuvre was instrumental in uplifting BJP’s position as a national party by providing outstanding electoral dividends in the years to come.

It seems that the discussion over caste has once again got the centre stage in recent times, due to the call for caste census by Rahul Gandhi and his Congress party. Rahul has made it a point to reiterate the demand in one rally after another. However, historically, Indian governments and top leaders have been against caste-based censuses. Jawaharlal Nehru did not support this idea and neither did Mahatma Gandhi. The leader of the socialists Ram Manohar Lohia was also against it. On the other hand, the Communists have been vocal against caste-based considerations. Significantly, the most vocal proponent of the backward classes, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar advocated the annihilation of caste altogether. Whenever the topic was raised within government circles, it was shelved. In this respect, the recent initiative of the Bihar Government to run a caste-based census seems pathbreaking and some other states like Orissa, Jharkhand and Maharashtra are also inclined towards the same. The Congress party has passed a resolution under Mallikarjun Kharge, their Dalit president, hailing the caste-based census as an important issue. Rahul Gandhi has become the latest poster boy of caste census and it seems, he is on a mission to rectify the follies of his predecessors. His intention seems to be dividing the base of BJP’s inclusive ‘Hindutva’ that has been championed by Narendra Modi. How much strategic advantage this stand will bring to Congress is yet to be seen.

The proponents of caste census have called this exercise an X-ray of the Indian society that will bring to light exactly where the problem lies. Other than headcount, it will include the socio-economic status and educational status of the other backward classes. Not only will it felicitate the allocation of funds but establish the right according to population. But PM Narendra Modi had called this a ploy to sectionalize among the poor which is not a good practice. According to him, apart from SC and ST reservations, the OBCs and the EWS reservations address the problem quite well and no further division is required. 

The last caste-based census was conducted in 1931 in the pre-independence period. In that census, the share of OBCs in the total population was found to be 52%. Noticeably, in the recently concluded Bihar census, the share of the OBC population has been registered at 53% which is slightly higher than that in the 1931 census. Taken together with the extremely backward classes, this share goes up to 63% of the total population, whereas the share of upper caste Hindus has been close to 15.5%. There is no doubt that the caste census points to the need for a resettlement of the elitist position of upper-caste Hindus in Indian society. If turned into electoral politics this demand could be a game changer for the majority of backward classes.

While the Indian government has so far shelved the caste-based census, in 2021, UNDP  through its pan-Indian survey, has suggested that caste remains the single most important issue in India. Out of 6 poor families, 5 are SC, ST, or OBC. According to the agency, caste cannot be ignored while taking into account India’s social development. Their claim further vindicates the reality of Indian politics that has often been ignored.

The recent assembly election wins of BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan followed by the triumph in the Lok Sabha election imply that Congress has not been able to capitalize on the issue adequately. Perhaps the concept of a caste-based census needs more time to sink into the Indian masses. Rahul Gandhi and his party may need to pitch the developmental issues strategically around the caste census to make it more appealing.