Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, requesting his personal intervention to integrate a caste census with the proposed national decadal census.
In the letter, Mr. Stalin pointed out that Bihar has successfully conducted a caste-based survey and a few more States have announced similar measures. He however, argued that though these State-specific initiatives and their data outcomes are useful in providing insights into society and its needs, they lacked the advantage of a nationwide comparability of inputs and processes.
Moreover, he said these State-specific initiatives lacked “the statutory stamp without a Legislative backing for such data collection” since the census, as a subject, was in the Union list of the Constitution. “Hence, we are of the considered view that only a statutory Census of India, with critical caste related data inputs, would be able to provide an appropriate platform for upholding social justice,” he said.
For evidence-based policy-making
The CM said only such an integrated census at the national level could provide “comprehensive and reliable data on the caste composition of the society and its reflection on the socio-economic indicators”. He said this would enable evidence-based policymaking and ensure equitable and inclusive development. He further argued that undertaking this task concurrently with the decadal census would not only ensure countrywide comparability of data but also optimise resource utilisation.
He stressed the need for not delaying any further the decadal census, which should have happened in 2021, adding that census data has always been the bedrock of policymaking and targeted interventions for socio-economic development. With caste historically being a determinant of the prospects of social progress in Indian society, it was essential that factual data on it was made available in public domain, he added.
Pointing out that last caste census was conducted in 1931, Mr. Stalin said though the demographic and socio-economic landscape of the country has changed in the past nine decades, underprivileged sections of the society continued to remain backward in spite of numerous past policy actions. “Hence, it is vital that contemporary data derived from a common standard process at the national level is cumulated to address all the pressing issues related to social justice, equity and inclusivity,” he said.
