ASIA NEWS SEPTEMBER 10, 2010
India Shifts Policy, Adding Caste Query to 2011 Census
By KRISHNA POKHAREL
NEW DELHI—The Indian government decided to poll all of its citizens on
their caste for the first time in 80 years in a major policy shift on
the controversial issue.
Caste—in effect a person's standing in the hierarchy of
Hinduism—continues to define many aspects of Indian society, such as
marriage and appealing to voters especially in rural areas.
Yet, amid a growing and modernizing economy and a young population,
caste's significance has waned, and the government since independence
in 1947 has resisted emphasizing caste for fear of creating divisions
and tensions between the various caste levels.
The Indian Constitution bans discrimination on the basis of race and caste.
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Sanjit Das/Panos for The Wall Street Journal
Villagers in Jhansi, in Uttar Pradesh, India, gather this year to
discuss how welfare projects affect their lives.
The Indian government didn't provide a specific rationale for polling
people on their caste—nor did it specifically say it would poll people
of other religions such as Christians or Muslims. But supporters of
the move say it will help the government better target welfare
programs and other services aimed at those in the lower castes, who
tend to also be on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder.
Though it hasn't polled for all castes, India does count those on the
lowest rung—known as Dalits—for special programs and quotas in
government jobs and education.
Those programs have been expanded over the years, and gaining an
updated look at the caste population could lead to a more-efficient
provision of services. Critics fear, however, that defining the caste
population could exacerbate intercaste tensions and discrimination.
In a statement announcing its decision, the cabinet of the Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh said the caste "of all persons as returned by
them would be canvassed" in a special census in mid-2011.
India's Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner will
first measure people on their caste and tribes and the information
then will be classified by an expert group that the Indian government
will form at a later date, the government said.
The last time a full caste census was conducted was under British rule
in 1931. The government acknowledged it was changing a practice that
"had been given up as a matter of policy after independence."
It said it made the move "in response to the demands for enumerating
castes." India's regulardecennial census started in April and will
conclude in March 2011.
The government currently reserves 22.5% of all jobs in its offices and
seats in government colleges and universities for Dalits and students
from India's indigenous tribes, who also receive special benefits
under the constitution. The percentage is based on 1961 census data.
In the early 1990s, the government decided to put aside a further 27%
of government jobs for people socially and economically marginalized
due to the caste system, known in demographic parlance as "other
backward classes."
That policy concession was forced by the political momentum built on
the claim that these groups constituted 52% of India's total
population based on the 1931 census data. That government move met
with number of violent protests around the country mainly by
upper-caste youths who saw it as limiting their career prospects.
Though often attributed to Hinduism's classification of people into
four categories according to their work and religious duties, the
caste distinctions in India have spilled over to converts to other
religions, too, so it isn't uncommon to find someone defining himself
as a Dalit Christian.
In a debate in Parliament in May, parties across the political
spectrum united in the view that caste should be included in the
continuing census to bring clarity to the government's
affirmative-action policies and make them more reflective of the
social and economic backwardness that persists due to the caste
system.
Bhakta Charan Das, a Congress party member in the lower house and the
only member during the May Parliament debate to strongly oppose the
inclusion of caste in the census, said the government decision on the
caste census comes at a time when the country should have "legally
abolished the caste system."
Mr. Das added that "it's time to abolish the caste system and let the
Indian nation live in dignity."
Mr. Das, who represents a constituency from the eastern Indian state
of Orissa, says he is a Dalit himself and "the caste census will
disturb the peace and progress in India's villages where people were
slowly coming out of the caste prison and over 70% of India's youth
whose liberal minds will now get imprisoned in the petty caste
issues."
Write to Krishna Pokharel at krishna.pokharel@wsj.com
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