The demand for a Caste Census for India is a long-standing one. While the census has a count of the SC and ST population in the country, there has been no enumeration of the OBCs for almost a century. Consecutive governments have ignored demands from the community and things reached a boil this year, as evidenced by the protests that led to 27% reservation set aside for them. The result — the last available data for the number of OBCs in India is 90 years old, from 1931. While reservations, recommendations, and allocations have been made based on these statistics, is it really possible to have a proper system in place if you do not have the basic data? This is one of the major questions raised in support of a Caste Census in 2021.
For every action of the government, there should be relevant data, said G Karunanidhy, General Secretary, AIOBC Employees Federation. "Not just caste, but the government should have data for everything. Only then they can formulate proper policies, allocate budgets and launch schemes. While they say they do have data for everything else (and that it's necessary), there's no enumeration of the castewise population," said Karunanidhy. "Caste is a predominant factor in India. It would have been great to live in a society without caste, but that's not the reality. Caste exists and so does caste-based discrimination. Then how can you ignore such an important part of society? If you are so concerned then bring about an amendment and abolish the caste system. Only then can you say that you don't need Caste Census," he added.
Equal playing field?
The Caste Census will give social, educational, and economic data that will be helpful for making social welfare policies and for the effective implementation of reservations, said Kiran Kumar, President of the AIOBCSA. "The 50 per cent cap on the reservation does not have any scientific evidence or data supporting it. The Caste Census data will provide empirical evidence for enhancing reservations for OBCs. The comparative evidence will also emerge reflecting the backwardness of SCs and STs as well," he added.
The activists strongly believe that the OBC percentage, when enumerated will be higher than the 52 per cent that was arrived upon in 1931. "It will not be lesser than 50 per cent. Rather it can very well be more than 60 per cent in some states like Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana among others," said Asok Kumar Sarkar, the Chief Patron, of All India RBI OBC Association. "If the percentage increases, then we can ask for higher reservations in the service sector and even in education. This will ensure proportionate representation," said Sarkar.
OBC or not OBC?
A Caste Census will also make it easier for the government to resolve the longstanding demands of various caste and sub-castes' demand to be included in the OBC. "If you have an enumeration, it is much easier to determine who deserves it and who does not," said Karunanidhy. "The government says that there will be social unrest if the data is released. I don't understand why. Was there unrest when the Caste Census was released in 1931? If the USA can have race-based data, then why can't we have caste population enumeration?" he asked.
The issue of social justice also comes up in this regard. Kiran, also a student at the University of Hyderabad, said that the data will also help states like Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, etc to revise and essentially increase the reservations for OBCs as the percentage is much lower than 27 per cent in these states. This is becasue their SC/ST population is higher. "The percentage of OBC reserved seats will go up in educational institutions and the employment domain. This will benefit marginalised students. The Caste Census will not divide the country like the government says. The caste system divided the country by not distributing the wealth to all communities," he added.
Taking a political turn
This time, it's not just the activists and the opposition taking up the issue seriously. The allies and the BJP's own MPs have also come forward to support the demands. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said he is waiting for an appointment to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue. He is believed to have said to news agencies, "The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has informed us about receiving my letter regarding the demand for conducting a caste-based census. We are waiting for an appointment."
Kumar last week said he had not received any response from the Prime Minister's Office regarding the matter and added that the issue is social, not political. "The demand of the Caste Census is not just the demand from Bihar but other states also. Our party MPs had written a letter seeking time to meet the Prime Minister. The opposition parties in Bihar also wanted to meet the Prime Minister with us. We had written a letter to the Prime Minister regarding this," he had said.
Another sharp criticism came from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar. Terming the recent Constitutional Amendment as a way of restoring power to states to have their own OBC lists for reservations in government jobs and education "a fraud", the NCP President on Monday demanded a caste-based Census, providing states empirical data and hiking the cap on reservations above 50 per cent.
He said that unless the 50 per cent quota limit imposed by the Supreme Court in its 1992 landmark verdict is relaxed, states cannot prepare their own lists of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs). "In reality, it (the amendment) will be of no use... The Centre took away the rights of the states around a couple of years ago to prepare and maintain their SEBC lists and that has been restored now. The government has betrayed the OBCs. Today, almost all states have more than 50 per cent reservations," said Pawar sharply.
Hiding the data?
But why haven't the governments never been comfortable releasing the data? While there are the regular issues of upper caste vote bank being disrupted and not much effect on the OBC vote bank, activists said that the data would give ground to the demands and the government does not want that. "Governments are fearful because the real numbers will come out. Information is crucial for raising demands. Democratic social movements will start to claim the right share for the marginalised and poor. The ruling upper-caste elite will not agree to such an equal and level playing field," said one of the activists we spoke to.
Now that the 127th Amendment Bill, 2021, is on the table and is being dubbed as the way to "inclusive development", will the 127th amendment and the Caste Census help the states to make more informed decisions? "The amendment will empower the states to prepare the OBC list but this power shall not be misused. The Caste Census will provide empirical data regarding castes that will help states and unions to prepare the state-level BC list and centre-level OBC list," concluded Kiran.
And those numbers will finally begin to add up for everyone.
(with inputs from PTI)
