Context:
The government has announced that caste will be counted in the 2027 Population Census. The ongoing pre-test/rehearsal of Census operations is important because it may shape the final method of caste enumeration.
Explanation:
- Census is the official counting of population, usually covering age, sex, literacy, occupation, housing and other details.
- In India, caste data for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) is collected in the Census.
- But detailed caste enumeration of all communities was last done in 1931 during British rule.
- The 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) collected caste names, but it was outside the regular Census and faced data quality issues.
- One major problem in SECC was the open-ended method, where people wrote caste names differently, creating lakhs of entries.
- The main debate now is whether the Census should use an open column or a fixed caste list.
- Accurate caste data can help in welfare planning, reservation policy, social justice and identifying backward groups.
- However, poor methodology can create confusion, duplication and politically sensitive disputes.
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Caste Enumeration in Census 2027 and Social Justice