New Delhi, May 1 —Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, the Government of India has announced that the upcoming national census will include caste enumeration — a move not undertaken since 1931.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw made the announcement Wednesday at a press briefing, stating that the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs had approved the decision under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“According to the Constitution, census is a Union subject,” Vaishnaw said.
“Some states have conducted caste surveys — some effectively, others for political motives and without transparency. A national caste enumeration brings uniformity and credibility.”
Since India’s independence, decennial census exercises have recorded data only on Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), omitting Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and other caste groups from official enumeration. The last time caste data for the entire population was collected was under British rule in 1931.
according to experts, the caste census is expected to play a crucial role in upcoming governance milestones, including the next delimitation exercise for Lok Sabha constituencies and the implementation of the 33 percent reservation for women in Parliament and State Assemblies.
Officials said the inclusion of caste data will require the retraining of approximately 3 million enumerators.
“This isn’t a minor procedural update,” one official noted. “We’re expanding the scope of the census significantly.”
The census, originally scheduled for 2021, has been delayed and now awaits a new timeline. It is traditionally conducted in two phases: house listing and housing schedule, followed by population enumeration.
While the questions for the first phase were notified in January 2020, the second phase’s 28 questions — which are expected to include caste — are still pending final approval, though tested during a 2019 pre-census trial.
Vaishnaw also used the platform to criticize the opposition, particularly the Congress party and the INDIA bloc, for what he described as their inconsistent stance on caste enumeration.
“Congress governments have always resisted caste census,” he said.
“In 2010, the then Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, assured the Lok Sabha that the matter would be considered. A Group of Ministers was formed, and most parties supported it — yet the Congress government opted only for a caste survey, not a full enumeration.”
He referred to the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) carried out during the Congress-led UPA government as “a political tool,” lacking the legitimacy and transparency of a nationwide census.
The move also reflects a broader political recalibration. The BJP, traditionally cautious about caste-based enumeration, saw diminished electoral returns in the 2024 general election, where consolidated support among OBCs, SCs, and STs benefited the opposition in several key states.
The party, though still the largest, failed to secure a simple majority as it did in 2014 and 2019.
A senior BJP leader told PTI the party recognizes the need to build sustained trust with deprived communities.
“They’ve supported us in previous elections, but they’re not yet committed voters. We need to engage them more deeply.”
Caste data was a consistent feature of colonial censuses from 1881 until 1931. After independence, the government moved away from this model, citing concerns about reinforcing caste divisions. While SCs and STs continued to be enumerated, broader caste data was excluded.
By 1961, states were permitted to conduct their own OBC surveys and compile lists for local policy needs, but no national database was maintained. Although the 1941 census gathered caste data, it was never published due to World War II disruptions.
Today, the 1931 figures remain the last complete record of caste demographics in India — a gap that the new census seeks to fill.
Despite the announcement, the government has yet to release a revised timeline for the census itself. With geopolitical tensions ongoing and the administrative workload immense, the execution of the caste census remains both technically and politically complex.