‘Caste census disturbing,will only help politicians’

“It is more than obvious that politicians want a caste census in order to have data on the caste composition in their constituencies. In this context,it is worth noting that Nitish

Kumar,the Chief Minister of Bihar,won the recent election on the development agenda — without invoking caste at all,” Bose said.

He also said that Census Commissioner C Chandramouli was opposed to the idea of a caste census on the grounds that it would affect the integrity of the Census. “It seems to me that the Prime Minister has been pressurised by the caste lobbies. He should not have agreed. It is a retrograde measure,” Bose added.

Bose’s lecture also delved on some of the issues that the Census data will shed light on. For instance,the housing census asked questions on people owning mobile phones and computers. “The data on ownership of mobile phones will give us an idea of the mobile revolution sweeping India. Judging by my observation in Delhi,I think almost every adult has a mobile phone.”

Bose also said concerns were raised from many quarters on matters relating to answering questions,as they thought the information could be misused. “The Census is a completely confidential exercise. Nobody can access anybody’s personal data. The data is meant only for aggregation and statistical analysis.” He also explained that the Census does not ask any questions on income. “If we were to ask such a question in the Indian Census,most of India’s population will declare itself poor,” he added.