Hyderabad – The Central Government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a major decision to include caste data in the next national census. The move aims to promote social justice and improve how welfare policies are designed and delivered.
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy and Dr K Laxman, head of the BJP OBC Morcha, praised the announcement. They called it a transparent and forward-looking step that responds to a long-standing public demand.
The caste census will begin in September this year and continue for two years, said Kishan Reddy. He highlighted that several states had already taken up their own caste surveys, causing public confusion and debate. A national-level effort, he said, would bring clarity and unity.
Reddy explained that this was not a sudden move. He pointed to a statement made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on September 18, 2024, where Shah had indicated that the government would share details about the caste census when the time was right.
Dr Laxman stressed the importance of this data. He reminded that the last full caste census in India was done in 1931 by the British government. Since then, only Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) have been officially counted. This gap in data has limited efforts to support Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and other disadvantaged groups.
He also criticized the Congress party for using the caste census issue as a political tool. Laxman said that while Congress has promised a caste census in manifestos and public speeches, it failed to act while in power. In 2010, during the UPA rule, a ministerial panel was formed to discuss the census. However, the government only carried out a survey, not a full enumeration, he said.
Both leaders described the new caste census as a much-needed step to ensure fairness and help create better, more targeted government programs.
