Caste survey must count for all

None of us chooses when, where, and whom we are born to. Our birth is a ‘lottery’, or in statistical terms, a random event. But does this ‘lottery’ determine how we perform in life? If yes, how can a society ensure that a random variable such as one’s birth is not the primary determinant of one’s life outcomes? These are profoundly important and deeply logical questions that every society must confront and answer.

The best way to answer them is through an empirical exercise that provides objective, quantifiable data and evidence of whether one’s birth lottery is a significant factor in one’s progress in life. This empirical exercise is called the ‘caste census’. A census is a data and information collection exercise backed by scientific methods. It can be conducted on people, animals, trees, the climate, or any subject that needs to be studied. In this vein, a caste census is a census conducted of various caste groups of people.

The Government of Telangana conducted a rigorous and scientific caste census that collected 75 fields of social, economic, educational, occupational, political, and caste-related information of all 3.5 crore people in the state. It listed 242 castes under the categories of General, Backward Classes, Scheduled Caste, and Scheduled Tribe. This vast repository of data was then given to an outside expert group to glean and analyse, and produce a report. The group was chaired by the retired Supreme Court judge and the I.N.D.I.A bloc’s vice-presidential nominee: B Sudershan Reddy. I was the convenor of this expert group, which also had reputed sociologists, economists, political scientists, civil society activists, and academics.

The process of conducting a census and analysing the data is scientific and bureaucratic. Drafting sound policies based on these findings is a political process and the mandate of democratically elected politicians. This delegation of responsibilities is critical for a caste census.

However, given that caste is an emotive subject in Indian society, the groups involved seek presence in or lead all aspects of the exercise. Politicians want to conduct the census, which is a technical exercise best done by bureaucrats; activists and bureaucrats want to analyse and draw conclusions from the data, which is a science best applied by experts and academics; activists want to set policies and actions for various caste groups, which is a political process best left to political leaders, and so on.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka understood this division of responsibilities and let the right set of people handle different aspects of the exercise. Officers of the Planning Department conducted the census; the Centre for Good Governance, a technology wing of the government, collected and stored the data; external experts analysed and calculated the backwardness of each caste group; the state government formulated policy actions such as a new law for 42% reservation for backward classes in the local body elections.

Karnataka’s socio-economic survey, which is underway, is being led by the State Commission for Backward Classes. The Telangana example shows that the bureaucratic machinery is best equipped to conduct such an exercise that involves rigorous, extensive collection of household data. Furthermore, a census pegged to socio-economic factors and caste cannot be limited to an enumeration of backward classes. This is an exercise aimed at analysing various aspects of the lives of people. It is, therefore, better undertaken by the government than a commission affiliated to a specific social group.

It has been reported that the Karnataka survey lists more than 1,500 caste groups. The rationale behind listing such a huge number of castes is unclear, but it is likely to make the exercise cumbersome. The surveyor may find it extremely difficult to go through the entire list and elicit a response from every respondent or household. Most sociological studies of populations adopt a Pareto-optimal approach where 80-90% of the people typically fall into 10-15% of social groups. Even in Telangana, though there were 242 castes, 91% of the population was covered in just 42 of them.

A caste census is as much about the scientific ‘census’ as it is about the sociological ‘caste’. If this exercise is genuinely intended to derive a deep understanding of society, it must be designed and conducted robustly by experts. Too often, a potential policy outcome of higher reservations or targeted welfare schemes overpowers and dictates the entire census exercise, leading to a sub-optimal and botched process. The cart of caste policy cannot be put before the horse, which is the census.

(The writer is a Congressman curious about correlations, causes & consequences)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.