Headcount of castes could be countdown to chaos
Vinod Sharma
May 27, 2010
"It'll be like casting a stone at a beehive," said well-known
demographer Ashish Bose of OBC-oriented parties' demand for caste
enumeration in Census-2010. The cons
* Caste census can further fragment society
* Defining caste is the single biggest challenge
* Could lead to large-scale chaos if govt gives in to pressure to count castes
* Castes and caste-based parties could multiply
* Experts say '31 caste census valid for extrapolation
* 10-yearly exercise not enough to collect such
sensitive data
His worry: the exercise won't generate authentic data while leaving
society and the polity even more divided than in the aftermath of 1990
when V.P. Singh implemented the Mandal Commission's report on quotas
for other backward classes (OBCs).
In these times of security challenges, the paramount need is to forge
homogenization, not the kind of socio-political fragmentation a caste
census would trigger. Sharpened identities will help regional,
sectarian outfits such as the BSP, SP and RJD, damaging the BJP's
Hindutva plank and the Congress's long-term objective of negating
Mandal by building an aspirational India.
Known for his work on "social mobility and caste conflicts" in the
20th century, sociologist Imtiaz Ahmad considered defining caste as
the single biggest challenge in any such enumeration.
Boundaries of caste have never been known. There were protests when
the British tried to fix them," he said.
For instance, the Chandaals claimed to be Naamshudhras in 1910 and
Naamshudhra Brahmins in 1921. The resultant confusion and chaos will
be way bigger in scale if the government gives in to caste-based
groupings in 21st century India. But it's caught in a bind on the
complex issue.
On one hand is the pressure for greater share (in special concessions
for backward classes), on the other the judiciary's push for
enumeration to evaluate continuation of the quota system.
"The inevitable byproduct of it will be social fission. Castes will
multiply and so would caste-based political parties," remarked Ahmed.
He felt data generated by the last caste census in 1931 was valid for
extrapolation to determine the count of communities other than Muslims
who faced major dislocation during Partition.
Dr Bose agreed with Ahmad that a caste census wouldn't go beyond
what's already known. "A ten-yearly exercise isn't a good way of
collecting such sensitive data," remarked the Professor Emeritus of
the Institute of Economic Growth. He relied more on the national
sample survey, the national family health survey and the agriculture
census for their shorter periodicity.
The limitations of once-in-a-decade enumeration were best illustrated
in 2001 when the census recorded over 6000 mother tongues. The
Language Division of Registrar General of India took 7-8 years to make
sense of the raw information, reducing eventually the number of mother
tongues to 120-odd. "As a result, the published version of the 2001
census came out in 2009 when it was time already for fresh
enumeration," said Bose.
The government obviously has bought time by referring to a Group of
Ministers the issue on which consensus eluded the Union Cabinet.
Can a question that so deeply divided the ministers be expected to
strengthen the Union that's India?
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