To root out social inequity, accept the reality of caste
The clamour for a caste census is growing rapidly. It is a natural progression of the amazing unanimity with which the OBCs were recognised for states to fix their quotas by politicians of all hues. Is it the time then for the rulers of India to bite the bullet and go for a proper census by caste along with religion, language and socio-economic status so as to build a more accurate database? Such a mine of information would avowedly carry sufficient data to help deliver a more just affirmative policy programme through reservations in government jobs and education.
Eighty years after the British counted the population also by caste in 1931, a caste census was held in 2011 but its results, regardless of any inaccuracies, are known only to those who have held the reins of government, like the Congress and the BJP which succeeded it in 2014. Any number of arguments have been used against a caste census, primarily that it may help perpetuate caste identities but, for the lower castes, such identity is an everyday reality. And then there was the bad experience of post-Mandal Commission events of the 1990s, which brought out the alarming divisiveness of the issue of caste and reservations.
The nightmarish logistics involved in running any count of a population in excess of 1.38 billion by the last count, and counting, is another matter altogether. The basic issue is the percentage of the OBC population.If it is proved to be well over the 52 per cent mark defined by Mandal, and as may be deduced from such exercises as school admissions, it may open a Pandora’s Box. The OBCs should then be eligible, in theory, for at least twice what they will be getting from their 27 per cent quota they enjoy. The potential for social upheaval from such a revelation could lead to a ticking time bomb situation.
The very fact of social engineering came on top of the compulsions of an ancient caste system conferring a couple of millennia of privileges on a few castes in a hierarchy as opposed to the many. But, of late, reservation quotas are impelled more by political considerations than social dynamics. This is all the more reason why the current rulers will be under greater pressure to allow a caste census despite their calculations on what it may do for the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections which are on the horizon. While the post-OBC amendment bill phase may seem to suit their interests more, political compulsions might force their hand into accepting the emerging consensus on a caste census.
A casteless Indian society is an unattainable ideal and since quotas have come to stay, the demand for them will only increase. The large and amorphous groups titled OBCs can be enumerated for government programmes to be run on more reliable information. The USA counts people by race but India has stuck to formally identifying only the “SC/ST" though the Constitution also permits reserved opportunities for "other socially and educationally backward classes." There is nothing sacrosanct about caste not being included in a census. The time may have come for data not only to be collected but also revealed to all in the interest of transparent governance.
Of late, reservation quotas are impelled more by political considerations than social dynamics