Before caste census, the first steps: How to count OBCs, general category castes

Unlike the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), who are enumerated based on official lists notified under constitutional orders of 1950, there is no unified or single list for OBCs. The SC or ST lists, which currently include 1,170 SC castes and 890 ST communities, are periodically updated through parliamentary amendments.

In the case of the OBCs, two separate lists are maintained. The National Commission for Backward Classes has a Central list that is used for reservations in Central government jobs and educational institutions. Simultaneously, each state maintains its own OBC list that differs from — and is often more extensive than — the Central list.

The government now faces a critical choice: whether to limit OBC enumeration to the Central list of 2,650 communities or to expand the exercise by incorporating the various state lists  — a decision that is as politically sensitive as it is administratively complex.

The second key question is whether caste enumeration should cover all castes, including those in the “general category”. Currently, during the Census, SC and ST respondents specify their particular caste or tribe, which enumerators then match against pre-approved lists. However, the general category is enumerated as one single bloc.

The recent caste surveys done by Bihar and Telangana counted individual caste groups under the general category.

The Bihar caste survey counted 214 castes in total as per the state government list. This included 22 in the SC category and 32 and 30 in the ST and OBC groups, respectively. While 113 castes were identified as Extremely Backward Classes, seven were placed in the Upper Caste category .

In Telangana, the caste survey enumerated individual groups in the general or Other Castes (OC) category. While the findings of the survey placed the general category population in the state at 15.79% of the population, the full caste survey report, including a breakdown of specific dominant caste groups such as the Reddys, has not been released.

The state government has said it cannot disclose the Telangana numbers due to “personal data protection guidelines.”

While carrying out the surveys in Bihar and Telangana, individuals were not asked for documents or proof of caste.

“The submission on caste was made purely on a voluntary basis. We believe that people do not lie about their caste, so we went by what they revealed,” said a senior official who was involved with the caste survey in Telangana.

The process and the timeframe

While the caste enumeration announcement might have given a boost to the BJP’s narrative of making big policy moves, the Congress and the Opposition are now asking for a timeframe for when the Census to which it is linked will finally be carried out. The last Census exercise was conducted in 2011.

Sources in the Registrar General and Census Commissioner’s office say the process is expected to mirror the preparation undertaken for the 2020 Census, which was eventually suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

By conservative estimates, the government will need at least six months of preparation before it can begin enumeration.

The first step is to issue a notification in the Official Gazette declaring its intent to conduct the Census. This must then be followed by similar notifications from all state governments — a process that could take up to two months. Once these are in place, the proforma for the house listing and population enumeration phases will have to be formally notified.

The suspended 2021 Census was set to be the first to use digital enumeration, with officials collecting data via electronic forms rather than pen and paper. With the inclusion of caste as one of the columns, the software will now need to be updated to include a new field for OBCs, along with a drop-down menu of sub-categories.

Enumerators will also need to be retrained, with many involved in the previous exercise now retiring. Training alone typically takes up to two months, sources said.

“Nearly 80% of the work will have to be done during the preparation phase. Only 20% is after data collection. The adoption of technology will significantly reduce the manual effort required to tabulate data, which earlier took months — sometimes years,” an officer said.