Today’s Big Story
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar led an all-party 11 member delegation from his state to meet PM Modi yesterday and push demands for a caste-based census across the country.
📯 What’s Going On?
Last week, CM Nitish Kumar had announced he would be meeting PM Narendra Modi on August 23 to discuss the issue of a caste-based census. All 11 political parties of Bihar including BJP allies were included in the delegation that met with the Centre yesterday.
The delegation believes that this census exercise will help plan welfare schemes for the poor and marginalized.
The last caste-based census was conducted in 1931 (pre-independence). In fact, the British, who had started India's census operations in 1872, used to count all castes until 1931.
🔍 What Does this Mean?
The left argues that a caste-based census is urgently needed in India as it will help bring forward anthropological facts and can form basis for development policies.
Many on the right are soft on their caste census position, state that the exercise is time consuming, complicated and risks deepening caste divides in society.
"Mr (Nitish) Kumar had earlier repeatedly said that a caste-based census s in everyone's interest and concern that such a census will upset a group of people is baseless. "It is a crucial issue and we have been seeking this for long. It if works out, that nothing could be better than that. Moreover, it would be not just for Bihar, people in the whole country will benefit from this. It should be done at least once. We will put forward our views from this angle," he said." - NDTV
"The reason why BJP seems reluctant about a caste census may be for fear that the numbers that might come up about different castes, especially the OBC castes, might give a new issue to the regional parties to mount pressure on the ruling party for reshaping the OBC quota in central government jobs and educational institutions." - The Indian Express
"The Central Government so far refused to accede to the demand. Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai had said: "The Government of India has decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise populations other than SCs and STs in the census." - ANI News
"The debate revolving around caste census has emerged in the country initiated from the state of Bihar. The demand for a caste-based census by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar met a cold response from the BJP. Bihar Mines and geology minister Janak Ram & Panchayati Raj Minister Samrat Chaudhary, both from the BJP, said the decision will be taken by the PM." - Times Now
💭 Why Should I Care?
A Tightrope Walk for the Centre
Economists and policy makers have long argued that counting OBCs can better inform government programs and efforts. However, many political leaders are not keen on ensuring a true, data-driven demographic structure is presented in the public domain because it may indicate that there is a greater need for reservation or policies for marginalized communities.
The Supreme Court's 1992 ruling had put a 50% cap on reservations and this ceiling cannot be breached based on their judgment. Now, if a caste based census takes place across the country and it turns out that OBC shares have increased or decreased, there would be calls to restructure reservation blocks.
Calls for this type of exercise point to the bigger question of what the purpose of a census is beyond simply determining population growth. On the plus side, they can provide important data related to the development of social policies. On the negative side, they can fuel caste-based politics, aiding strategies to capture vote banks for upcoming elections. This could be a key reason that the Centre is soft in its position to hold a country-wide caste based census. Elections are due next year in the battleground state of Uttar Pradesh, and experts believe the BJP is reluctant to stir any issues that may bring unwelcome surprises - especially after it was routed in recent state polls in West Bengal.
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💡 Below the Fold
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