(Article) Caste Census: Cabinet Clears Caste Census In 2011

After several deliberations within the government on the politically-sensitive issue, the Union cabinet decided to carry out a separate house-to house caste enumeration from June to September next year.

Giving in to demands from almost all political parties, government on Sep 9 2010. decided to hold caste census next year under an exercise to be carried out separately from the enumeration of population.

After several deliberations within the government on the politically-sensitive issue, the Union cabinet decided to carry out a separate house-to-house caste enumeration from June to September next year.

According to home minister P. Chidambaram, after considering various options, the option that we have approved is, based on the responses of various political parties, that caste must be canvassed and the integrity of the headcount must not be affected. The caste enumeration will be conducted in a phased manner after the population enumeration, which will include biometric capture and headcount, is completed by March next year, he said. He evaded a reply when asked whether caste enumeration would be merged with the headcount.

The decision has been taken after considering options suggested by the Group of Ministers (GoM) set up on the issue and the consultations that finance minister Pranab Mukherjee held with leaders of various parties.

Parties like Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal (United) had disrupted proceedings in Parliament for several days during the Budget and Monsoon sessions while pressing for caste census.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which was divided initially, later decided to support it. The issue even divided the Congress as well as the Union cabinet with some favouring caste census and others opposing it, prompting the government to set up a GoM to consider all aspects related to such a move.

Chidambaram said a suitable legal regime for collection of data on castes would be formulated in consultation with the ministry of law and justice.

There will be an additional cost for the exercise which will be assessed at a separate meeting. The office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner would conduct the field operations of the caste enumeration.

The Central government will constitute an expert group to classify the caste/tribe returns after the enumeration is completed. The office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner would hand over the details of the castes/tribes returned in the enumeration to the proposed expert group.

The last caste-wise census was held in 1931 and such a practice had been given up as a matter of policy after Independence.

In response to the demands for enumerating castes other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Census 2011 raised inside Parliament as well as by various groups outside, the ministry of home affairs submi 7ed a note to the Union cabinet in May 2010 pertaining to this issue.

India launches Census 2011, the biggest-ever in history

India on Apr 01, 2010 launched “Census 2011,ftft the biggest-ever census a7empted in the history of mankind enumerating the country's 1.2 billion population and classifying usual residents according to their gender, religion, occupation and education.

The massive exercise, to be spread over next 11 months, will mark a milestone as the first-ever National Population Register (NPR) will also be prepared in which all persons aged over 15 years will be photographed and fingerprinted to create a biometric national database. With this India will probably become the first democratic nation in the world which would have got its population fingerprinted in a year from now.

As the first citizen of the country, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil was the first person to be listed in the decennial exercise. She appealed to her compatriots to follow her example “for the good of the nation.

The 15th National Census exercise, since 1872, will see over 25 lakh officials capturing the socio economic cultural profile of its citizens. It will cost around Rs. 2,209 crore while the expenditure on NPR will be Rs. 3,539.24 crore. The exercise will also consume more than 11 million tonnes of paper.

During the massive exercise, the enumerators for the first time will collect information like ownership of mobile phones, computers, internet, having treated or untreated drinking water facility and usage of banking services. They will also seek additional information for the creation of NPR. The government has already said that no information will be collected on castes as no caste-based census has ever been conducted in independent India.

The second phase, called the Population Enumeration phase, will be conducted simultaneously all over the country from February 9 to 28, 2011, and the entire exercise would be completed by March 5, 2011.

All 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils, 7,742 towns and more than six lakh villages will be covered.

What is Census

The Indian Census is the most credible source of information on Demography (Population characteristics), Economic Activity, Literacy & Education, Housing & Household Amenities, Urbanization, Fertility and Mortality, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Language, Religion, Migration, Disability and many other socio-cultural and demographic data since 1872. Census 2011 will be the 15th National Census of the country. This is the only source of primary data at village, town and ward level. It provides valuable information for planning and formulation of polices for Central & State Governments and is widely used by National & International agencies, scholars, business people, industrialists, and many more. The delimitation/reservation of Constituencies.

Parliamentary/Assembly/Panchayats and other Local Bodies is also done on the basis of the demographic data thrown up by the Census. Census is the basis for reviewing the country's progress in the past decade, monitoring the on-going schemes of the Government and most importantly, plan for the future. That is why the slogan of Census 2011 is "Our Census, Our Future".

National Population Register

The NPR would be a Register of usual residents of the country. The NPR will be a comprehensive identity database that would help in be7er targeting of the benefits and services under the Government schemes/programmes, improve planning and help strengthen security of the country. This is being done for the first time in the country.

How will both these exercises be conducted?

The Census is a statutory exercise conducted under the provisions of the Census Act 1948 and Rules made there under. The NPR is being created under the provisions of the Citizenship Act and Rules.

Census Process

The Census process involves visiting each and every household and gathering particulars by asking questions and filling up Census Forms. The information collected about individuals is kept absolutely confidential. In fact this information is not accessible even to Courts of law. After the field work is over the forms are transported to data processing centres located at 15 cities across the country. The data processing will be done using sophisticated software called Intelligent Character Recognition Software (ICR). This technology was pioneered by India in Census 2001 has become the benchmark for Censuses all around the globe. This involves the scanning of the Census Forms at high speed and extracting the data automatically using computer software. This revolutionary technology has enabled the processing of the voluminous data in a very short time and saving a huge amount of manual labour and cost.

NPR Process

Details such as Name, Date of Birth, Sex, Present Address, Permanent Address, Names of Father, Mother and Spouse etc will be gathered by visiting each and every household. All usual residents will be eligible to be included irrespective of their Nationality. Each and every household will be given an Acknowledgement Slip at the time of enumeration. The data will then be entered into computers in the local language of the State as well as in English. Once this database has been created, biometrics such as photograph, 10 fingerprints and probably Iris information will be added for all persons aged 15 years and above. This will be done by arranging  camps at every village and at the ward level in every town. Each household will be required to bring the Acknowledgement Slip to such camps. Those who miss these camps will be given the opportunity to present themselves at permanent NPR Centres to be set up at the Tehsil/Town level. In the next step, data will be printed out and displayed at prominent places within the village and ward for the public to see. Objections will be sought and registered at this stage. Each of these objections will then be enquired into by the local Revenue Department Officer and a proper disposal given in writing.

Persons aggrieved by such order have a right of appeal to the Tehsildar and then to the District Collector. Once this process is over, the lists will be placed in the Gram Sabha in villages and the Ward Commi7ee in towns. Claims and Objections will be received at this stage also and dealt with in the same manner described above. The Gram Sabha/Ward Commi7ee has to give its clearance or objection within a fixed period of time after  which it will be deemed that the lists have been cleared. The lists thus authenticated will then be sent to the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) for de-duplication and issue of UID Numbers. All duplicates will be eliminated at this stage based on comparison of biometrics. Unique ID numbers will also be generated for every person. The cleaned database along with the UID Number will then be sent back to the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India (ORG&CCI) and would form the National Population Register. As the UID system works on the basis of biometric de-duplication, in the case of persons of age 15 years and above (for whom biometrics is available), the UID Number will be available for each individual. For those below the age of 15 years (for whom biometrics is not available), the UID Number will be linked to the parent or guardian.

Will Caste Census in India Change Anything?

The recent approval by the Government of India for caste based census has aroused concerns among political parties as well as social scientists and ethnographers. For the self-proclaimed ‘modernists’ such regressive measures are likely to heighten caste consciousness among Indians. While the pragmatists argue that data on caste can help the government to be7er target affirmative action policies and thereby address caste differences rationally. The fact however is the that caste as a social reality in India draws succour from multiple sources which will remain untouched by either the proposed census or the resultant official policies. Caste issues influence everyday life of Indians in countless ways.

For those who think that caste in India is merely a tool of political opportunism or a remnant of ancient Hindu culture, visit to the rural regions of North Kerala during the winter months can be surprising and unnerving. Every year as the winter sets in, rural areas of North Kerala prepare for a unique transformation of social relations. Theyyam is an art form where performers, belonging to lower castes, are believed to be incarnated by local deities and members of higher castes flock to seek their blessing. For three months of the year individuals from the lower castes are elevated to the status of God but have to live as untouchables once the Theyy am season culminates.

Numerous rituals and customs like Theyyam continue to nourish the practice of caste differences in India. One only needs to skim through the matrimonial columns in leading English dailies to get a sense that caste is an important consideration even for the ‘modern’ elite segment of the urban Indian population.

Stephen P. Rosen in his book Societies and Military Power: India and its Army discuss the continuing salience of caste in India’s army. Though many would consider Rosen’s conclusions somewhat extreme but he does raise several valid concerns. The ba7alions in the Indian Army continue to be organised as the Jat, Sikh, Dogra or Rajput regiments.

The Poona Pact between Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar in 1932 granting reservation for ‘depressed’ classes in the provincial legislatures was a precursor for the phenomenal political salience of caste in Indian politics. From the Backward Classes Commission’s endeavour to create a master list of other  backwards classes in 1955 to KHAM (Kshatriyas, Harijans, Adivasis and Muslims) politics of the Congress (I) in the 1980s; from the Mandal Commission uproar in the 1990s to growing mass appeal of Dalit based political par- ties like the Bahujan Samaj Party, India’s political arena has witnessed countless caste inspired stirrings. No observer of Indian politics can ignore the role of caste in determining electoral outcomes.

Moreover, even before the on-going controversy over the 2010 caste census erupted, the Government of India had been involved in many projects categorizing its population along caste lines. Despite criticisms from historians, political scientists and anthropologists the Government of India did not abandon the colonial state’s practice of differentiating people along lines of caste and religion in the People of India projects. According to Susan Bayly, in the late 1990s the Anthropological Survey of India was undertaking “massive exercise in caste-based data collection- the People of India Project- with funding from Planning Commission. The project has used DNA sampling to identify difference between individual castes and tribes. Readers are told that as composite ‘type’, the Scheduled Castes have ‘relatively broad noses’; chamars says another entry are characterized by a ‘long, narrow head shape and a long moderately broad nasal shape.” Such, outrageous distinctions based on caste in a report sponsored by a State agency had gone completely unnoticed by the ‘modernists’ and pragmatics involved in recent debate. Though previous censuses have not included questions of caste directly, the ethnographic notes in the census reports have contributed much to literature on caste in India.

According to the pragmatists India cannot simply assume ‘modernity’ by ignoring caste. They see caste as a form of social stratification much like class in Britain or race in the U.S. The U.S. census and job applications have a voluntary disclosure segment requiring information about the individual’s race. Comparing caste with class and race appears incorrect if one realises that unlike other forms of social stratifications, caste in India is allegedly sanctioned by the sacred scriptures. Even though the scriptural sanctity of caste is open to debate many Indians cite the Manusmriti and Bhagavad Gita to support arguments in favour of caste. It is much simpler to address differentiations based on skin colour or nationality than stratifications perceived to be ordained by religious texts.

Caste based social practices in India go beyond the more visible political and economic dimensions and these subtle aspects are unlikely to be impacted by the enumeration of caste through the census.

Brief History of Census

The earliest literature 'Rig-Veda' reveals that some kind of population count was maintained in during 800-600 BC in India. The celebrated 'Arthashastr' by 'Kautilya' wri7en in the 3rd Century BC prescribed the collection of population statistics as a measure of state policy for taxation. It contained a detailed description of methods of conducting population, economic and agricultural censuses. During the regime of the Mughal king Akbar, the administrative report 'Ain-e-Akbar' included comprehensive data pertaining to population, industry, wealth and many other characteris tics.

A systematic and modern population census, in its present form was conducted non synchronously between 18ti5 and 1872 in different parts of the country. This effort culminating in 1872 has been popularly labeled as the first population census of India However, the first synchronous census in India was held in 1881. Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every ten year.

The Census of India 2001 was the fourteenth census in the continuous series as reckoned from1872 and the sixth since independence. The gigantic task of census taking was completed in two phases. In the first phase, known as House -listing Operations, all building and structures, residential, partly residential or non- residential were identified and listed and the uses to which they were put recorded. Information on houses, household amenities and assets were also collected. In the second phase, known as Population Enumeration, more detailed information on each individual residing in the country, Indian national or otherwise, during the enumeration period was collected.

At the Census 2001, more than 2 million (or 20 lakh) enumerators were deployed to collect the information by visiting every household. The Indian Census is one of the largest administrative exercises undertaken in the world.

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