In contemporary times, one cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that data is the new oil. Just as no enterprise can thrive without accurate data, in the digital age, no nation can deliver social justice without proper information. We cannot fix what we refuse to see. Calls for a caste census compel us to confront the inequalities embedded in our society. Some of these facts might not be very obvious. However, we cannot evade inconvenient truths.
Rahul Gandhi has initiated a national conversation on caste census as a tool of justice and nation-building. Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has translated this vision to practice, with precision and dexterity, by conducting a comprehensive caste survey, tabling its findings in the state assembly and securing 42 per cent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) across the educational, employment and political space. The Telangana CM also rallied people at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. All this compelled the Centre to rethink its entrenched position on caste census. As a MP from Telangana, I feel especially proud.
This “RaRe” (Rahul and Revanth) approach unlocks a path to social transformation. The Telangana exercise was unique and comprehensive. It conducted an X-ray of the state’s society by collecting data that illuminates the social, educational, political, economic and employment-related aspects of caste. This information was collected using a pointed questionnaire-based survey. The caste census was unlike the survey conducted in 1931 by the colonial state or any other caste-related data collection exercise undertaken in the country. The Centre should adopt this blueprint and involve Congress and other political parties in the actual design and execution, as equal participants and stakeholders.
Conducting the caste census is a moral, constitutional and political imperative because it is essential to combat the hydra-headed monster of social inequality. Caste prejudice is widespread in both metropolitan high-rises and rural hamlets. Without precise and granular data, the state finds it virtually impossible to identify the most marginalised and design interventions that improve their social and economic conditions. A caste census is not an act of charity; it is a scalpel for justice which replaces vague promises with data-driven policies.
The caste census will enable equitable allocation of public resources, the lifeblood of any welfare state. How can we promise equity when we do not know the landscape of deprivation? The census will surely prove to be a foundation for the equitable allocation of grants and development funding. It could lead to more precisely targeted welfare programmes.
The caste census will also provide a mechanism to evaluate the efficacy of affirmative action. Social justice in India has long depended on constitutional guarantees. However, without complex data, we are shooting arrows in the dark. Who benefits? Who is left behind? Which groups monopolise gains? Which groups remain invisible? Data collected during this exercise will provide both a mirror and a measuring stick — it will enable course correction.
This exercise could provide an honest picture of Indian society. Caste is not a ghost of the past but a living force which shapes our politics, economics and social interactions. It is essential to map this reality to create a country where people feel represented, not just governed — a country that includes, not excludes.
The fear that the caste census will deepen divisions is unfounded. Instead, the exercise could lay the ground for healing society by recognising marginalised groups and providing them justice. This is not vote-bank politics; it is a nation-building exercise in its noblest form.
We must conduct decentralised surveys at the district and state levels, ensuring that data is credible, verifiable and reflects regional reality. We must also institute rigorous mechanisms to obviate political abuse. The exercise is meant to enhance inclusiveness rather than deepen differences — it must not reduce representation to a chaotic splintering of micro-identities.
Whatever the caste census reveals, one thing is sure — the 50 per cent reservation ceiling for SCs, STs and OBCs is both outmoded and wrong. A constitutional amendment is imperative to eliminate this cap.
Article 15(5), upheld by the apex court in 2014, should be applied to create quotas for SCs, STs and OBCs in private educational institutions. The spirit of the Article remains unfulfilled. The Justice Rohini Commission’s recommendations should be immediately implemented to guarantee fair representation within OBC subgroups, especially historically underrepresented communities.
We must use advanced technologies like AI and ML (machine learning) to analyse data, identify trends and make proper assessments. A strong, transparent census questionnaire based on the Telangana model should be created. A standardised approach is essential, otherwise, we risk statistical distortions and definitional anarchy.
The government needs to invest in intensive training for enumerators, the mission’s frontline soldiers. A well-trained enumerator can distinguish between clarity and confusion, trust and mistrust.
This exercise should become a national mission. The Congress party, its senior leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, along with the CMs of Telangana and Karnataka, have shown what leadership looks like when fired by compassion and led by conviction. They have cracked open the door to a fairer India. Every believer in the constitutional dream of justice must urge the current regime to seize this moment to shape the country according to its founding ideals.
The writer is a jurist, Rajya Sabha MP and senior national spokesperson, Congress. Views are personal
