The Union government on Wednesday made it official that caste census will be included in the coming National Census. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, as per an ANI report, affirmed that the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has approved the inclusion of caste-based data in the all-India census.
Modi Government Takes a Step Towards Transparency
Talking to the media, Vaishnaw stated, “Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided today that Caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census.” He did not give a date as to when the census would begin.
#WATCH | Delhi | “Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided today that Caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census,” says Union Minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw on Union Cabinet decisions. pic.twitter.com/0FtK0lg9q7
— ANI (@ANI) April 30, 2025
Vaishnaw made it clear that the census is purely within the purview of the Centre. He lashed out at some opposition-governed states for organizing separate caste surveys and stated these exercises were non-transparent.
“Some states have conducted surveys to enumerate castes. While some states have done this well, some others conducted such surveys only from a political angle in a non-transparent way. Such surveys created doubts in society. To ensure that our social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be included in the census instead of surveys,” Vaishnaw said.
Vaishnaw Alleges Congress of Politicizing Caste Statistics
The Union Minister, meanwhile, made a stinging criticism of the Congress party and its constituents in the INDI alliance, alleging that they have consistently politicised the census process.
“Congress governments have always opposed the caste census. In 2010, the late Dr Manmohan Singh said that the matter of caste census should be considered in the Cabinet. A group of ministers was formed to consider this subject,” he observed.
He further said, “All the political parties have suggested a caste enumeration. Despite this, the Congress government had resolved to conduct a caste survey or a caste census. Congress and its allies in the INDI coalition are well known to have employed the caste enumeration purely as a political weapon.”
The decennial population census, initially planned for 2021, was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and logistical issues. With the Centre’s renewed initiative, caste counting will now, therefore, become a formal and integral component of the national enumeration, aiming to promote transparency and, moreover, foster social harmony..
