Friday, 17 May, 2024
Sound data is the bedrock of evidence-based policymaking. Without robust data to rely on, policy moves degrade into policy conjectures. These conjectures, in turn, lead to suboptimal national development, social harmony and economic growth. And, the fact is, India currently lacks authoritative data on caste demography.
Like it or not, caste is the basis of social structure in India. It cuts across religious, regional, linguistic and economic lines. Post-Independence Indian polity built itself around caste. Affirmative action, in the form of reservation as policy, is all about caste. But despite its all-pervasive influence, the last caste enumeration took place in the 1931 census in British-Occupied India. There has been no update on caste data since.
