Hyderabad: In a fairly surprising move, the Central government has decided to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming census exercise. Union minister of electronics and information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the committee on political affairs’ decision on Wednesday, April 30.
Vaishnaw said that the census comes under the purview of the Centre, but some states have done caste enumeration in the name of surveys. Alleging that the states ruled by Opposition parties have done caste surveys for political reasons, the minister said it is Modi government’s resolve to transparently include caste enumeration in the forthcoming pan-India census exercise.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have been demanding a nationwide caste census, making it a major election issue, and some states like Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka have conducted such surveys.
The census exercise was to commence in April 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Considering all these facts and to ensure that the social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be transparently included in the Census instead of surveys,” Vaishnaw said, adding that this will strengthen the social and economic structure of our society while the nation continues to progress.
Vaishnaw said in 2010, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had assured the Lok Sabha that the matter of caste census should be considered in the Cabinet. A group of ministers was formed to consider this after most of the political parties had recommended a caste census.
“Despite this, the Congress government decided to conduct only a survey instead of a caste census. That survey is known as SECC.
“It is well understood that the Congress and its INDI alliance partners have used Caste Census only as a political tool,” the minister alleged.
He said that under Article 246 of the Constitution, the subject ‘census’ is listed in the Union list under entry 69 and according to the Constitution, the Census is a Union subject.
Better late than never: Congress
Welcoming the Union government’s decision, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi felt it should give a timeline for its implementation.
Addressing a press conference here, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, “We support this (government’s decision) completely but we want a timeline. We want to know by when it will be done.”
Welcoming the Narendra Modi dispensation’s “sudden” decision to include caste enumeration in the census exercise after “11 years of opposing it”, he said, “This is the first step and Telangana is a model for caste census.”
While reiterating the demand for removing the 50 percent cap on reservations, Gandhi said funds should be allocated for the caste census.
“We want people’s census, not bureaucrats’ census,” he added.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said the forthcoming census exercise as “better late than never” and stressed the party had raised the issue in its resolution on social justice, which was passed in Ahmedabad on April 9, 2025.
Ramesh also shared screenshots of the resolution ‘Nyaypath’ in which the party had listed its initiatives for achieving social justice.
Later, Ramesh also shared the April 16, 2023, letter of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he had demanded that the decennial census be carried out and a comprehensive caste census be made a part of it.
“On April 16 2023 – that is, over two years back – Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge had written this letter to the PM. Need anything more be said?” he said.
Telangana CM credits Rahul Gandhi for the Centre’s move
Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy congratulated the Centre for taking a decision to conduct the caste census as part of the national census.
“Today, finally, we proved that what Telangana Does Today, India will follow tomorrow. It is a proud moment that Shri Rahul Gandhi has shown how his vision has become a policy even in opposition. We are proud that the actions of Telangana government for OBC empowerment have inspired the country and India has agreed to also follow the actions of our state,” he posted on X.
He reminded that it was the Congress which took the struggle for caste census across the country, including the national capital and protested at the Jantar Mantar, to exert pressure on the Centre to agree for conducting the caste census.
Revanth Reddy also explained how a state-wide comprehensive social , economic, caste survey was conducted in the state, which found that 56.32 percent of the population belonged to the backward classes.
“Based on the report tabled in the Telangana State Legislative Assembly, the state also resolved and proposed 42 percent reservations for OBCs in education, work and political positions,” he noted.
Owaisi urges transparency in data collection
Welcoming the move of the Centre to conduct caste census along with national census on his X handle, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi stated that it was much needed and was a long-pending demand of many groups including his own demand since 2001.
“The need of the hour is proper data on the backwardness of Muslims, including the various castes/groups among Muslims. NSSO & other data clearly demonstrates that Muslims are economically, socially & educationally backward. BJP has opposed SC-status for Dalit Muslims; it’s also opposed reservations for backward Muslims,” he pointed out.
Imploring the BJP to be intellectually honest, he opined that the data needed to be collected transparently and put in the public domain.
He also stressed that the policies of the government should be consistent with the census data, and that the most backward communities should get their fair share in education and employment.
Victory for ‘PDA’ and INDIA bloc: SP
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav termed the Centre’s decision to conduct a caste-based census as a “100 per cent victory” for the united strength of the PDA (Backwards, Dalits and minorities) and the INDIA bloc.
Reacting to the announcement on social media platform X, the SP chief said, “The decision to conduct a caste census is a 100 per cent victory of the unity of 90 per cent PDA. Due to our collective pressure, the BJP government has been forced to take this decision. This is a crucial step forward in the PDA’s fight for social justice.”
Calling the move the beginning of a transformative movement, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister added, “This is the first stage of a positive democratic movement for rights, and the last phase of BJP’s negative politics. The end of the BJP’s ‘prabhutvawadi’ (supremacy-driven) thinking is inevitable. The ‘Manvidhan’ (running at its own will) cannot stand against the Constitution for long. This is INDIA’s victory!”
The SP has consistently made the caste census a central issue in its election campaigns.
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