The ongoing rehearsal for the second phase of Census 2027 in 16 States and Union Territories has introduced a significant feature: an open column where respondents can state their caste, which will be recorded by the enumerator. This feature has statutory backing, unlike the 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), which also allowed respondents to state their caste. The pre-test, which began on July 6 and will end on July 20, aims to finalise the methodology for counting caste.
The government hopes that the pre-test findings will corroborate the known issues with open-ended responses on caste, which yielded unwieldy data in the 2011 SECC. The method led to over 46 lakh ‘caste names’, against the 4,147 in the 1931 Census, the last to tabulate caste. This was largely due to respondents entering surnames, sub-castes, and clan names as if interchangeable, inflating the count into incoherence.
The Centre told the Supreme Court in 2021 that the SECC figures were too error-ridden to be relied upon for reservation. A more effective method, as suggested by the 2022-23 Bihar caste survey, could be using digital Census hand-held devices pre-loaded with a curated list of castes and sub-castes, allowing the enumerator to select the correct entry after asking the respondent. This approach may help reduce mistakes and mismatches, ultimately providing more usable data.
Unlike other identities such as linguistic, religious, and gender, caste is an abstract and irrational concept that designates people based on a perceived, primordial identity conferred at birth and arranged in a hierarchy. India’s Constitution, committed to social justice, aims to abolish untouchability, forbid caste-based discrimination, and create a republic where birth does not determine a citizen’s standing. The rationale behind counting caste lies in addressing social inequities and informing welfare and social justice measures that can delegitimise casteism over time.
Through sharper targeting of welfare and affirmative action, empirical caste data can also inform questions of the creamy layer and the sub-categorisation of castes and classes already benefiting from reservation. If caste is to be counted, it should be counted well, and the open-ended method may not serve the intended purpose.
