The Cabinet of Ministers of India has decided to include information on the caste affiliation of citizens in the national census. Previously, such data was collected only at the level of individual states. About this informs Reuters.
The government justified the innovation by the need to ensure transparency of the process to avoid dependence on caste surveys conducted by individual regions. “Several states have conducted surveys for enumeration of castes, some states have done it well, others have done it purely politically, in a non-transparent manner,” said Information Minister Ashwini Vaishnau.
The caste system, which has existed in India for millennia, continues to play a key role in the social and political life of the country. There are dozens of political parties built on caste identity, and government institutions are required to provide quotas for lower castes in employment and higher education. Current quotas are based on outdated statistical data.
Supporters of the government’s decision consider it necessary to accurately identify those who really need state support. Critics, on the other hand, emphasize that the caste-based approach is inappropriate for a country that aspires to become a global leader. The exact date of the start of the national population census has not yet been announced. The census, which was planned for 2021, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as technical and organizational difficulties.
