It is often said that a democracy is built on truth, representation and recognition. And in India, no truth has been more invisibilised, resisted and misunderstood than the truth of caste.
The recent announcement by the Union government that it is willing to conduct a caste census is a significant yet hesitant step towards acknowledging a reality that no one can erase. Caste determines how opportunity and oppression are distributed in India. The constitution made everyone equal in the eyes of the law, but equality in the eyes of society remains contested.
A caste census should not be another bureaucratic exercise, it’s the “X-ray of the Indian society”, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. And this has long been overdue. Because behind the facade of meritocracy lies the hard skeleton of caste. And if we never examine that structure, how will we heal it?
Many states like Bihar, Karnataka and Telangana, had already initiated state-level caste surveys. Many were shocked to see Bihar’s caste survey in 2023 which revealed that OBCs and extremely backward classes constituted 63 per cent of the state’s population. It gave a clear picture of the economic conditions of the people.
The BJP finally acknowledged the demand of Congress and other leaders. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw called their demands politically motivated, yet maintained that caste data must be included transparently in the official census, not left to piecemeal state surveys. Well, there are no deadlines, no clear roadmap, but even this admission is significant. Because let’s be honest, India haven’t had a caste census since 1931.
A caste census will expose the monopolisation of quotas by dominant castes as well. Many analysts believe that this could be a turning point in the politics of the country. It may change the grammar of Indian politics and be compared with the Mandal Commission recommendations. It has the potential to reshape the language of electoral politics, intensify identity-based mobilisation, and alter existing caste alignments. By bringing data-driven clarity to the composition of backward and marginalised communities, it may influence reservation policies, reconfigure political representation and redefine social justice of India.
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Another significant debate in this context is that, PM Modi has often emphasised that India’s primary divide is not along caste lines, but poverty. A caste census offers a way to test that very claim. If the census is done right, it provides empirical evidence to assess whether those at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder are there due to lack of resources alone, or whether inherited social hierarchies continue to determine access to education, jobs and dignity.
Let’s begin with some numbers that sting. Ninety-five per cent of India’s billion-dollar startup founders are from upper-caste backgrounds. The same number of gig workers (delivery workers, cleaners and drivers) belong to Dalits, OBCs and minorities. Well, this is not about talent but about the power of inherited social networks. Entry into elite universities, easy access to internships, boardrooms, even political grooming, are most of the times facilitated not just by wealth but by caste-coded social capital. If you are from the “right family” and “right background’, you have easy access to opportunity, for others, even the first door gets bolted shut.
Talking about the share of representation in key sectors - in the judiciary, nearly 80 per cent of high court and supreme court judges comes from upper-caste background. In mainstream media, a 2019 study by Oxfam found that over 89 per cent of newsroom leadership across Indian TV, print and digital media is dominated by upper-caste journalists. And in education, over 90 per cent teachers in IIM, IIT’s are from general category. It’s precisely because these facts are uncomfortable that a transparent, comprehensive caste census becomes essential. But not just any census, a superficial headcount won’t cut it. What we need is a holistic, people-centred analysis.
This exercise must look beyond just “who belongs to what caste”. It must ask deeper questions like, how have people moved in terms of social mobility across generations? If the children of illiterate parents are now college graduates, has their quality of life improved meaningfully? Has caste-based discrimination diminished or has it simply evolved into more “refined” exclusions? In spite of their financial stability, are they not socially and culturally ostracised?
There are layered realities a true caste census must uncover, not just where people are today, but how far they have to travel to get there, and how far they are still being held back. This census clearly demands a rich qualitative digging rather than just being merely quantitative. “True equality meant the absolute destruction of caste divisions,” said BR Ambedkar.
A real census must measure representation and mobility together across income, education, land ownership, political participation and cultural visibility. If India wants to walk it’s talk of social justice, then there must be a start from the basics, the census must count what caste continues to cost us.
By Shyna Gupta
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