A caste census should help India identify and tackle deprivations

This enumeration must be done with enough care to ensure it yields useful data for policy responses

- HIMANSHU

The recent Cabinet decision to include caste as a category in India's upcoming population census is an important milestone in the quest for social justice. But it is also relevant for multiple other reasons.

While the push for a caste census, or inclusion of caste in the national headcount, gathered pace on the back of a spirited campaign run by the opposition Congress party and its leader, a near consensus on its necessity has always existed among political parties. Still, there has never been a serious attempt to carry out the exercise. It was this frustration that led states to conduct their own caste counts.

While these are called 'surveys' for legal reasons, for all practical purposes and statistically, the caste surveys of Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka qualify as caste censuses. But only partial information is available from these surveys and the absence of detailed data defeats their very purpose.

A national caste census is likely to put an end to the multiple caste surveys done by states with varying methodologies, questionnaires and time-frames. A common methodology will allow comparisons across states on the basis of publicly available information.

The decision, however, is only a statement of intent. While it puts an end to speculation over a caste census, no details have been made available on its questionnaire, design and methodology.