WHY CASTE CENSUS WILL NOT FACILITATE COMPREHENSIVE REFORM OF HIGHER EDUCATION

What India needs is a nationwide, dynamic database that can provide granular insights required to meaningfully reform higher education

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As the prospect of a nationwide caste census resurfaces at a crucial crossroads, it is important to reflect on its potential ramifications especially in education. The last comprehensive caste enumeration dates back to 1931, and yet, in its absence, major policies and landmark judgments have continued to hinge on outdated data. The obsolescence of the existing framework is glaring.

As of 2021, over 60% of the faculty positions reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in India's premier institutions remained unfilled, exposing deep systemic gaps in the implementation of the Mandal Commission's vision. Even by the end of a full recruitment cycle in 2023, OBC representation across all faculty levels in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) stood only at 27%, far from being proportional to their population share. Revising this archaic demographic framework could recalibrate reservation policies, with far-reaching consequences for labour markets, educational attainment, and employment equity.

But what if the census reveals that the very design of reservations has become obsolete for 21st-century inequalities? This article examines how such a demographic unravelling might reshape India's higher education landscape—a system now defined by privatisation, uneven quality, and growth-driven imperatives—since the Mandal Commission's reservations first redrew its contours.

The baseline

The latest AISHE 2022-23 data highlights enduring caste-based disparities in higher education enrollment across India. Scheduled Castes (SCs) comprise over 6.6 million students, Scheduled Tribes (STs) over 2.76 million, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) more than 16.7 million together representing a significant portion of India's higher education population. However, access remains uneven across States and social groups.