UPSC Mains Current Affairs for 26 June 2025

Caste Census Latest News

The Central Government has announced that the next Census would take place in 2027 and that it would collect information on castes.

Introduction

• India is preparing to conduct its next decennial Census in 2027, with a significant change: the inclusion of caste enumeration. 
• This marks the first such effort since 1941 and aims to provide data that could help bring marginalised communities into the policy mainstream. 
• However, experts and statisticians argue that to fulfil this ambitious goal, a fundamental restructuring of the current Census design and methodology is essential.

Timeline and Process of the Upcoming Census

• The Census will be conducted in two key phases:
  • House-listing Phase (2026): Scheduled between April and September 2026, this phase will record data about dwelling units and household amenities.
  • Population Enumeration Phase (2027): This phase will collect demographic, social, and economic data, including caste-related information.
• Caste enumeration will occur during the second phase, which represents a marked departure from earlier Censuses that did not record comprehensive caste data, except for Scheduled Castes (SCs).

Significance of Caste Enumeration

• India last attempted caste enumeration in the 1941 Census, but the data was never processed due to the outbreak of World War II. 
• The last usable caste data, therefore, dates back to 1931, making it grossly outdated for modern policy use.
• The Union government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has justified this inclusion as a measure to integrate marginalised communities and enhance targeted policymaking. 
• However, questions remain whether the current Census framework can deliver on this promise without substantive changes.

Limitations of the Existing Census Framework

• The current format of the Census questionnaire, based on the 2021 draft, only gathers caste data for SCs. 
• To make caste enumeration meaningful, experts argue the need to collect data for all castes (excluding Scheduled Tribes), accompanied by adjustments in enumerator training, software tools, and data processing protocols.
• Moreover, key socio-economic indicators like employment, education, age at marriage, and place of birth are currently not cross-tabulated effectively with caste information. 
• Existing questions on unemployment, migration, and childbirth suffer from conceptual ambiguity and low data quality, reducing their usefulness for caste-based policy analysis.

Suggested Reforms for Enhanced Data Collection

• Linking Household Data with Demographic Information

• • • One major reform proposed is the integration of housing and asset-related questions from the house-listing phase into the population enumeration phase. This change would:
    • Reduce data linkage errors arising from a 6-9 month time gap between phases.
    • Enable accurate correlation between caste and access to housing, electricity, and sanitation.
    • Improve coverage in urban areas, which often suffer from higher omission rates.

• Making the Questionnaire Leaner

• • • Several questions have become outdated or redundant due to rapid social and technological change. These include:
    • Ownership of mobile phones or computers.
    • Household access to bank accounts.
    • Streamlining the questionnaire would allow enumerators to focus on collecting accurate responses to more impactful variables.

• Ensuring the Utility of Collected Data

• • Despite the Census providing caste-wise data for socio-economic variables for decades, such data has rarely informed the identification of Most Backward Castes (MBCs) or shaped welfare schemes beyond reservation frameworks. 
  • For caste enumeration to be genuinely transformative, the data must be analysed and integrated into broader public policy processes.

Challenges in Collecting Caste Data

• While Census data can be a vital tool, it also faces logistical and methodological hurdles, such as:
  • Self-identification inconsistencies across castes and sub-castes.
  • Lack of standardised caste lists.
  • Enumerator biases and recording errors.
• Nevertheless, in the absence of any other large-scale, uniform data source, the Census remains the most feasible mechanism to gather caste-wise socio-economic data across India.

Way Forward

• To ensure the 2027 Census lives up to its potential, policymakers must:
  • Redesign the questionnaire to capture more granular and relevant data.
  • Improve enumerator training and digital tools for data collection.
  • Integrate caste data with other critical indicators such as literacy, employment, housing, and migration.
  • Commit to using the data beyond reservation quotas for broader social and economic reforms.
• If executed thoughtfully, this exercise could provide India with a rich dataset for evidence-based policymaking aimed at inclusive development.

Source : TH