The caste calculus

A case for universal provisioning as a precondition to eliminate inequality

- AMITABH RANJAN

SPEAKING AT A session recently in Mumbai to mark 100 years of the existence of the RSS that he heads, Mohan Bhagwat said only a Hindu could head the organisation and that it did not follow caste-based considerations. "Swayamsevaks rose through the ranks based on their work". He added that there was no election to the post and regional and divisional heads zero in on a deserving candidate to head the organisation as the sarsangh chalak.

Look at the century-old history of the RSS. So far, since 1925, there have been six Brahmins and one Rajput who have headed the organisation. The two castes together represent not more than 1012% of India's population.

Obviously, this is one of those trademark examples of doublespeak that the organisation resorts to from time to time to suit its agenda.

Around the time he made this speech, the protests by members of the forward castes were in full swing against the UGC's 2026 Equity Rules that sought to replace the 2012 anti-discrimination rules before the apex court stayed it.

Anand Teltumbde's The Caste Con Census brings to the fore a long history of disconnect between claims on the one hand and intentions on the other of affirmative action, whereby tokenism for over a century has only solidified and widened caste divides rather than bridge them. For the author the immediate provocation is the impending caste census that the BJPled Centre, in a U-turn, has announced.

In April 2025, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs gave a nod for enumerating caste in the decennial census to be carried in 2026-27. Interestingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party, particularly during the 2024 election campaign, had been stridently vocal in their opposition to a caste census.