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Caste CensusCabinet clears caste census in 2011er several deliberaons

within the government on

the polically-sensive

issue, the Union cabinet decided

to carry out a separate house-to-

house caste enumeraon from

June to September next yearGiving in to demands from al-

most all polical pares, govern-

ment on Sep 9 2010. decided to

hold caste census next year

under an exercise to be carried

out separately from the enumer-

aon of populaon.

Aer several deliberaons within

the government on the poli-

cally-sensive issue, the Union

cabinet decided to carry out a

separate house-to-house caste

enumeraon from June to Sep-

tember next year.

According to home minister P.

Chidambaram, aer considering

various opons, the opon that

we have approved is, based onthe responses of various polical

pares, that caste must be can-

vassed and the integrity of the

headcount must not be affected.

The caste enumeraon will be

conducted in a phased manner

aer the populaon enumera-

on, which will include biometric

capture and headcount, is com-

pleted by March next year, he

said. He evaded a reply when

asked whether caste enumera-

on would be merged with the

headcount.

The decision has been taken

aer considering opons sug-

gested by the Group of Ministers

(GoM) set up on the issue andthe consultaons that finance

minister Pranab Mukherjee held

with leaders of various pares.

Pares like Rashtriya Janata

Dal, Samajwadi Party and Janata

Dal (United) had disrupted pro-

ceedings in Parliament for several

days during the Budget and Mon-

soon sessions while pressing for

caste census.

The Bharaya Janata Party,

By : Avadhesh Kumar Pandey

A

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which was divided inially, later

decided to support it. The issue

even divided the Congress as well

as the Union cabinet with some

favouring caste census and others

opposing it, prompng the gov-

ernment to set up a GoM to con-sider all aspects related to such a

move.

Chidambaram said a suitable

legal regime for collecon of data

on castes would be formulated in

consultaon with the ministry of

law and jusce.

There will be an addional

cost for the exercise which will be

assessed at a separate meeng.

The office of the Registrar Gen-eral and Census Commissioner

would conduct the field opera-

ons of the caste enumeraon.

The Central government will

constute an expert group to

classify the caste/tribe returns

aer the enumeraon is com-

pleted. The office of the Registrar

General and Census Commis-

sioner would hand over the de-

tails of the castes/tribes returnedin the enumeraon to the pro-

posed expert group.

The last caste-wise census

was held in 1931 and such a prac-

ce had been given up as a mat-

ter of policy aer Independence.

In response to the demands

for enumerang castes other

than Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes in the Census

2011 raised inside Parliament aswell as by various groups outside,

the ministry of home affairs sub-

mied a note to the Union cabi-

net in May 2010 pertaining to this

issue.

India launches Census

2011, the biggest-ever in

history

India on Apr 01, 2010 launched

Census 2011,'' the biggest-ever

census aempted in the history

of mankind enumerang the

country's 1.2 billion populaon

and classifying usual residents ac-

cording to their gender, religion,

occupaon and educaon.The massive exercise, to be

spread over next 11 months, will

mark a milestone as the first-ever

Naonal Populaon Register

(NPR) will also be prepared in

which all persons aged over 15

years will be photographed and

fingerprinted to create a biomet-

ric naonal database. With this

India will probably become the

first democrac naon in theworld which would have got its

populaon fingerprinted in a year

from now.

As the first cizen of the

country, President Prabha De-

visingh Pal was the first person

to be listed in the decennial exer-

cise. She appealed to her compa-

triots to follow her example for

the good of the naon.''

The 15th Naonal Census ex-ercise, since 1872, will see over

25 lakh officials

capturing the

socio-economic-

cultural profile of

its cizens. It will

cost around Rs.

2,209 crore while

the expenditure on

NPR will be Rs.

3,539.24 crore.The exercise will

also consume

more than 11 mil-

lion tonnes of

paper.

During the

massive exercise,

the enumerators

for the first me

will collect infor-

maon like owner-

ship of mobile phones, comput-

ers, internet, having treated or

untreated drinking water facility

and usage of banking services.

They will also seek addional in-

formaon for the creaon of

NPR. The government has al-ready said that no informaon

will be collected on castes as no

caste-based census has ever been

conducted in independent India.

The second phase, called the

Populaon Enumeraon phase,

will be conducted simultaneously

all over the country from Febru-

ary 9 to 28, 2011, and the enre

exercise would be completed by

March 5, 2011.All 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils,

7,742 towns and more than six

lakh villages will be covered.

What is Census

The Indian Census is the most

credible source of informaon on

Demography (Populaon charac-

teriscs), Economic Acvity, Liter-acy & Educaon, Housing &

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Household Amenies, Urbaniza-

on, Ferlity and Mortality,

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled

Tribes, Language, Religion, Migra-

on, Disability and many other

socio-cultural and demographic

data since 1872. Census 2011 will

be the 15th Naonal Census of

the country. This is the only

source of primary data at village,town and ward level. It provides

valuable informaon for planning

and formulaon of polices for

Central & State Governments and

is widely used by Naonal & In-

ternaonal agencies, scholars,

business people, industrialists,

and many more. The delimita-

on/reservaon of Constuen-

cies -

Parliamentary/Assembly/Pan-

chayats and other Local Bodies is

also done on the basis of the de-

mographic data thrown up by the

Census. Census is the basis for re-

viewing the country's progress in

the past decade, monitoring the

on-going schemes of the Govern-

ment and most importantly, plan

for the future. That is why the slo-

gan of Census 2011 is "Our Cen-

sus, Our Future".

Naonal PopulaonRegister

The NPR would be a Register of

usual residents of the country.

The NPR will be a comprehensive

identy database that would help

in beer targeng of the benefitsand services under the Govern-

ment schemes/programmes, im-

prove planning and help

strengthen security of the coun-

try. This is being done for the first

me in the country.

How will both these exercises be

conducted?

The Census is a statutory exercise

conducted under the provisions

of the Census Act 1948 and Rules

made there under. The NPR is

being created under the provi-

sions of the Cizenship Act and

Rules.

Census Process

The Census process involves vis-

ing each and every household

and gathering parculars by ask-

ing quesons and filling up Cen-

sus Forms. The informaon col-

lected about individuals is kept

absolutely confidenal. In fact

this informaon is not accessible

even to Courts of law. Aer the

field work is over the forms aretransported to data processing

centres located at 15 cies across

the country. The data processing

will be done using sophiscated

soware called Intelligent Char-

acter Recognion Soware (ICR).

This technology was pioneered

by India in Census 2001 has be-

come the benchmark for Cen-

suses all around the globe. This

involves the scanning of the Cen-sus Forms at high speed and ex-

tracng the data automacally

using computer soware. This

revoluonary technology has en-

abled the processing of the volu-

minous data in a very short me

and saving a huge amount of

manual labour and cost.

NPR Process

Details such as Name, Date of

Birth, Sex, Present Address, Per-

manent Address, Names of Fa-

ther, Mother and Spouse etc will

be gathered by vising each and

every household. All usual resi-

dents will be eligible to be in-

cluded irrespecve of their

Naonality. Each and every

household will be given an Ac-knowledgement Slip at the me

of enumeraon. The data will

then be entered into computers

in the local language of the State

as well as in English. Once this

database has been created, bio-

metrics such as photograph, 10

fingerprints and probably Iris in-

formaon will be added for all

persons aged 15 years and above.

This will be done by arranging

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camps at every village and at the

ward level in every town. Each

household will be required to

bring the Acknowledgement Slip

to such camps. Those who miss

these camps will be given the op-

portunity to present themselvesat permanent NPR Centres to be

set up at the Tehsil/Town level. In

the next step, data will be printed

out and displayed at prominent

places within the village and ward

for the public to see. Objecons

will be sought and registered at

this stage. Each of these objec-

ons will then be enquired into

by the local Revenue Department

Officer and a proper disposalgiven in wring.

Persons aggrieved by such

order have a right of appeal to

the Tehsildar and then to the Dis-

trict Collector. Once this process

is over, the lists will be placed in

the Gram Sabha in villages and

the Ward Commiee in towns.

Claims and Objecons will be re-

ceived at this stage also and dealt

with in the same manner de-scribed above. The Gram

Sabha/Ward Commiee has to

give its clearance or objecon

within a fixed period of me aer

which it will be deemed that the

lists have been cleared. The lists

thus authencated will then be

sent to the Unique Identy Au-

thority of India (UIDAI) for de-du-

plicaon and issue of UID

Numbers. All duplicates will beeliminated at this stage based on

comparison of biometrics.

Unique ID numbers will also be

generated for every person. The

cleaned database along with the

UID Number will then be sent

back to the Office of the Registrar

General and Census Commis-

sioner, India (ORG&CCI) and

would form the Naonal Popula-

on Register. As the UID system

works on the basis of biometric

de-duplicaon, in the case of per-

sons of age 15 years and above

(for whom biometrics is avail-

able), the UID Number will be

available for each individual. For

those below the age of 15 years(for whom biometrics is not avail-

able), the UID Number will be

linked to the parent or guardian.

Will Caste Census in

India Change Anything?

The recent approval by the Gov-

ernment of India for caste based

census has aroused concernsamong polical pares as well as

social sciensts and ethnogra-

phers. For the self-proclaimed

modernists such regressive

measures are likely to heighten

caste consciousness among Indi-

ans. While the pragmasts argue

that data on caste can help the

government to beer target affir-

mave acon policies and

thereby address caste differencesraonally. The fact however is the

that caste as a social reality in

India draws succour from mul-

ple sources which will remain un-

touched by either the proposed

census or the resultant official

policies. Caste issues influence

everyday life of Indians in count-

less ways.

For those who think that

caste in India is merely a tool ofpolical opportunism or a rem-

nant of ancient Hindu culture,

visit to the rural regions of North

Kerala during the winter months

can be surprising and unnerving.

Every year as the winter sets in,

rural areas of North Kerala pre-

pare for a unique transformaon

of social relaons. Theyyam is an

art form where performers, be-

longing to lower castes, are be-

lieved to be incarnated by local

deies and members of higher

castes flock to seek their blessing.

For three months of the year indi-

viduals from the lower castes are

elevated to the status of God but

have to live as untouchables oncethe Theyyam season culminates.

Numerous rituals and cus-

toms like Theyyam connue to

nourish the pracce of caste dif-

ferences in India. One only needs

to skim through the matrimonial

columns in leading English dailies

to get a sense that caste is an im-

portant consideraon even for

the modern elite segment of the

urban Indian populaon.Stephen P. Rosen in his book

Sociees and Military Power:

India and its Army discuss the

connuing salience of caste in

Indias army. Though many would

consider Rosens conclusions

somewhat extreme but he does

raise several valid concerns. The

baalions in the Indian Army con-

nue to be organised as the Jat,

Sikh, Dogra or Rajput regiments.The Poona Pact between Ma-

hatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambed-

kar in 1932 granng reservaon

for depressed classes in the

provincial legislatures was a pre-

cursor for the phenomenal poli-

cal salience of caste in Indian

polics. From the Backward

Classes Commissions endeavour

to create a master list of other

backwards classes in 1955 toKHAM (Kshatriyas, Harijans, Adi-

vasis and Muslims) polics of the

Congress (I) in the 1980s; from

the Mandal Commission uproar

in the 1990s to growing mass ap-

peal of Dalit based polical par-

es like the Bahujan Samaj Party,

Indias polical arena has wit-

nessed countless caste inspired

srrings. No observer of Indian

polics can ignore the role of

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caste in determining electoral

outcomes.

Moreover, even before the

on-going controversy over the

2010 caste census erupted, the

Government of India had been in-

volved in many projects catego-

rizing its populaon along caste

lines. Despite cricisms from his-

torians, polical sciensts and an-

thropologists the Government of

India did not abandon the colo-

nial states pracse of differen-

ang people along lines of caste

and religion in the People of India

projects. According to Susan

Bayly, in the late 1990s the An-

thropological Survey of India was

undertaking massive exercise in

caste-based data collecon- the

People of India Project- with

funding from Planning Commis-

sion. The project has used DNA

sampling to idenfy difference

between individual castes and

tribes. Readers are told that as

composite type, the Schduled

Castes have relavely broad

noses; chamars says another

entry are characterized by a long,

narrow head shape and a long

moderately broad nasal shape.

Such, outrageous disncons

based on caste in a report spon-

sored by a State agency had gone

completely unnoced by the

modernists and pragmacs in-

volved in recent debate. Though

previous censuses have not in-

cluded quesons of caste directly,

the ethnographic notes in the

census reports have contributed

much to literature on caste in

India.

According to the pragma-

sts India cannot simply

assume modernity by ig-

noring caste. They see

caste as a form of social

straficaon much like

class in Britain or race in

the U.S. The U.S. census

and job applicaons have a vol-

untary disclosure segment requir-

ing informaon about the

individuals race. Comparing

caste with class and race appears

incorrect if one realises that un-

like other forms of social strafi-

caons, caste in India is allegedly

sanconed by the sacred scrip-tures. Even though the scriptural

sancty of caste is open to de-

bate many Indians cite the

Manusmri and Bhagavad Gita to

support arguments in favour of

caste. It is much simpler to ad-

dress differenaons based on

skin colour or naonality than

straficaons perceived to be or-

dained by religious texts.

Caste based social praccesin India go beyond the more visi-

ble polical and economic dimen-

sions and these subtle aspects

are unlikely to be impacted by

the enumeraon of caste through

the census.

Brief History of Census

The earliest literature 'Rig-Veda'reveals that some kind of popula-

on count was maintained in dur-

ing 800-600 BC in India. The

celebrated 'Arthashastr' by 'Kau-

lya' wrien in the 3rd Century

BC prescribed the collecon of

populaon stascs as a measure

of state policy for taxaon. It con-

tained a detailed descripon of

methods of conducng popula-

on, economic and agricultural

censuses. During the regime of

the Mughal king Akbar, the ad-

ministrave report 'Ain-e-Akbari'

included comprehensive data

pertaining to populaon, indus-

try, wealth and many other char-

acteriscs.

A systemac and modern

populaon census, in its present

form was conducted non syn-

chronously between 1865 and

1872 in different parts of the

country. This effort culminang in

1872 has been popularly labeled

as the first populaon census of

India However, the first synchro-

nous census in India was held in

1881. Since then, censuses havebeen undertaken uninterruptedly

once every ten year.

The Census of India 2001 was

the fourteenth census in the con-

nuous series as reckoned

from1872 and the sixth since in-

dependence. The giganc task of

census taking was completed in

two phases. In the first phase,

known as House -lisng Opera-

ons, all building and structures,residenal, partly residenal or

non- residenal were idenfied

and listed and the uses to which

they were put recorded. Informa-

on on houses, household

amenies and assets were also

collected. In the second phase,

known as Populaon Enumera-

on, more detailed informaon

on each individual residing in the

country, Indian naonal or other-wise, during the enumeraon pe-

riod was collected.

At the Census 2001, more

than 2 million (or 20 lakh) enu-

merators were deployed to col-

lect the informaon by vising

every household. The Indian Cen-

sus is one of the largest adminis-

trave exercises undertaken in

the world.

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