Archive · 19 Aug 2026
Caste Census Debate Deepens Over Scope, Data and Representation
India is collecting some caste information during its Census 2027 exercise.
Many people describe this as the start of a caste census.
Justice V Eswaraiah disagrees and says the questions are not detailed enough.
He believes the government must compare people’s castes with both central and state lists.
He also says officials need ways to check the answers and allow objections.
Eswaraiah argues that accurate information would help backward communities ask for fair representation and opportunities.
He criticizes both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress over their handling of caste surveys.
He says data from a 2011 survey was never fully released.
The government’s decision to include a caste question and Eswaraiah’s criticism represent the main disagreement in the article.
Justice V Eswaraiah says the current Census 2027 exercise is not a genuine caste census.
He argues that merely asking respondents to state their caste cannot identify social and educational backwardness.
Eswaraiah alleges the government changed its promise and seeks to suppress demands from backward communities.
He says caste data from the 2011 socio-economic caste census was not released after the BJP came to power.
He also criticizes the Telangana and Bihar surveys, and accuses Rahul Gandhi of overstating Congress’s record on caste enumeration.
- Who
- Justice V Eswaraiah, a former acting chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and former chairperson of the National Commission for Backward Classes, is the main critic quoted.
- What
- The article examines whether caste-related questions in Census 2027 amount to a comprehensive caste census.
- When
- The current exercise is identified as Census 2027; the 2011 socio-economic caste census and later state surveys are also discussed.
- Where
- The debate concerns India, including the state surveys in Telangana and Bihar.
- Why
- The issue matters because caste data could influence demands for representation and opportunities in politics, education, employment, healthcare, the economy and administration.
Critics of the current exercise
Supporters of the current framing
Does this qualify as a caste census?
Critics of the current exercise
Justice V Eswaraiah says merely asking people to state their caste does not establish social or educational backwardness and therefore does not constitute a caste census.
Supporters of the current framing
The government’s decision to collect caste-related information has been widely described as the beginning of the long-awaited caste census.
Purpose and consequences
Critics of the current exercise
Eswaraiah alleges that successive governments avoid comprehensive enumeration because reliable figures could strengthen backward communities’ demands for representation and resources.
Supporters of the current framing
The inclusion of caste information in the census is presented as a step toward gathering information that could inform debates about equality and representation, although the article does not provide a detailed government response.
Political record
Critics of the current exercise
Eswaraiah says there is no meaningful difference between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress on caste enumeration, and accuses Rahul Gandhi of seeking political popularity without ensuring proper surveys in Congress-ruled states.
Supporters of the current framing
Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress are described as proponents of a caste census, while the Bharatiya Janata Party’s inclusion of a caste question is cited as evidence by those who view the current exercise as progress.
- Current exercise
- Caste information is being collected as the tenth question among 40 Census 2027 questions, according to the interview.
- Eswaraiah’s position
- He says the exercise is a population census, not a caste census.
- Data requirements proposed
- He says respondents should identify whether their caste appears on the central OBC list, the state OBC list, or both.
- 2011 survey
- The socio-economic caste census began under the Congress-led UPA government in 2011 and was completed in March 2014, according to the article.
- Unreleased data
- The article says the 2011 caste data was not released, with 0.5 percent inaccuracy cited as a reason.
- OBC lists
- The article distinguishes between central and state OBC lists and cites the 2021 constitutional amendment authorizing states to maintain their own lists.
- State surveys
- Eswaraiah says Bihar’s survey was somewhat better than Telangana’s, but that neither was conducted properly.