Inclusion of Caste in the Census: The Triumph of the OBC Politics?

Dr. Rakesh K Singh

Subalterns, Volume 18, October-December 2010, No.4

Despite the polarizing response it evokes, inclusion of caste in our census is almost a certainty
now. The Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, has already
given a green signal last month for enumeration of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) along with
Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the ongoing census. Now it is up to the
Cabinet to give its final affirmation. The pressure of other backward class (OBC) groups, which
have asserted themselves strongly in all political parties, has prevailed over misgivings about a
new wave of caste-based politics. In a way it is the victory of the backward caste politics as the
dominant caste ruling classes have been resisting it ever since the pre-independence years. They
tend to see it as an exercise which will divide the society and blamed the then British ruler for
sowing a seed of discord by having one such census way back in 1931.

The backward caste leaders, be it the Yadav troika of Lalu, Mulayam and Sharad, or their
counterparts in Southern and Western India have always favoured such exercise even at the cost
of being dubbed as anti-national. It is none else but the BJP MP from Karnataka, Ananth Kumar,
who accused Lalu Yadav of being anti-national when he raised the issue in Lok Sabha in the first
week of May. The comment created storm and a day later the leader of opposition in the Rajya
Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, had to apologize on behalf of Ananth Kumar. OBC leaders see the census
as an important step towards legitimizing their claims to quotas as they have argued that
backwards constitute between 52-54% of the population. The NSSO has pegged OBC population
in rural areas at 38.5%, a claim that OBC leaders dispute.

The Supreme Court of India and some High Courts had off and on asked for the basis of the
quantum of reservation for OBCs which the government lacked on account of absence of proper
population data for these classes. Kaka Kalelkar and Mandal Commission had evolved criterion
for ascertaining the population of OBCs. Some attempts were also made by some States to
ascertain the population figure for OBCs but it was contested by the opponents of reservation.

As per 1931 census data, the population of OBCs at the national level has been accepted as 52%
of the total population of the country. Accordingly, reservation to the extent of 27% has been
made for them in Central Government posts. This was the outcome of the implementation of
Mandal Commission Report in 1990. Recently, the matter went to the Supreme Court of India
when the Government decided to give reservation to OBCs in Higher Education and Technical
Institutions. While the question regarding the basis of the quantum of reservation was again
raised by the Court, which directed the Government to come up with reliable figures of OBCs
population, the Government lacked such data.
There have also been regular demands from various political parties and organizations especially
those with Backward Classes dominance for caste based census. However, under a political
conspiracy, caste based census could not be held for almost 80 years. This demand was raised
during 2001 Census also and the then NDA government did not entertain this request. But this
time the pressure was so high that Congress government could not afford to put it aside and it had
to agree to the caste count during 2011 Census.

In the post Mandal phase, the Indian society is witnessing a process of social churning. As a
result, the political landscape is increasingly coming closer to social reality. Availability of
accurate data on caste-wise distribution of population shall further hasten this process thereby
contributing to greater democratization of Indian society and polity. The census enumerates
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes since 1951. It has not created any major social problems.
Therefore, the fears expressed on caste based census are unfounded or motivated.

The caste-based census will provide the first-ever analysis of 16 years of Mandal benefits as well
as decades of reservation in states. The results will also hold key to the future course of backward
politics in the country. So far only a handful of strong castes have cornered the quota benefits
aimed at a heterogeneous backward population. While Yadavs and Kurmis are said to be ruling
the North, OBC Marathas are the beneficiaries in Maharashtra and likewise a few other castes in
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Kerala. Any empirical data testifying such
hypothesis is bound to result in demands for separate earmarking of quota for most backwards.
The gainers will be Most Backward Classes (MBCs) – a welcome change for sure. Till that
happens, however, OBC satraps can revel in their victory of having forced a reluctant government
to hold caste census. This will certainly help them reactivate the OBC agenda.