Redesigning Caste Census in 2025 !

For the last many years some political parties and also some social organizations working on many social welfare measures, were asking the government to conduct caste-based census as many government schemes which are designed for the welfare of socially and economically deprived sections of society, funds to be allocated for their welfare could not be determined in the right spirit due to lack of exact figures of those sections of society like SCs, STs and Other Backward Classes.

But now the Central Government has itself declared that caste based census would be conducted as last such census were conducted many decades ago.

2. But another factor which also needs to be taken into consideration, while conducting such census also deserves to be pondered over more seriously, is religion itself. Whenever some matter relating to religion crops up, our political leaders often say in high volume and equally emphatically that there are more than 80 % Hindus in India, which is simply misleading conception. It must be
   borne in mind that people belonging to the deprived sections of society i.e. SCs, STs and OBCs are often considered as Hindus only when political parties want to have some benefit by including all reserved category people as Hindus, but as soon as that particular purpose is resolved, all reserve category people become untouchable for them.
3. All people of this country are quite well aware that even though untouchability was declared a crime many decades ago, discrimination based on caste, colour, creed or religion etc. is also a crime, but despite this fact which has been written in the constitution of India, discrimination based on
   these factors still persists in our society. Daily we read in many newspapers and also listen on news channels that people belonging to the reserved categories, so many types of atrocities and injustices are often inflicted upon them due to their lower castes. People of lower castes are not allowed to enter temples in many parts of the country, young boys of these castes are not allowed to ride on horse backs while their marriage procession has to be carried out, dead bodies of their family members are not allowed to be cremated in the common village cremation grounds, recently a news also appeared in print media that the Jats of a village in District Barmed of Rajasthan became so much filled with hatred that they dug out a dead body of a Dalit woman with the help of JCB and took it to their home and her family was told to perform her cremation at their own house and not in the common cremation ground of that village. What a shame and disgrace? One wonders – are these people living in 21 st century or 18 th century and what type of mentality those people are having – feudalism? All developed countries are moving forward and making all round progress and but we Indian are moving
4. backward and shaming the whole nation. On the top of it, all big leaders are
5. keeping a studied silence over such matters.
6. It is very well pertinent to mention here that discrimination based on caste
7. does not merely confines to lower strata of society, its application and impact
8. goes much beyond that. While selection of candidates from the reserved
9. category of people, often the candidates from SCs / STs and OBCs are rejected
10. when the selection committee comes to know their caste and in official
11. records, impression is created to the society that suitable candidates are not
12. found and the seats meant for them as per reservation policy are filled up with
13. general category candidates and this policy of denying their share of jobs goes
14. on unabated for the last many decades. Same policy of filling up vacancies
15. with general category candidates is adopted in promotions as well.
16. This malaise of discrimination against the reserved category people goes on
17. even in political circles. That’s why we have seen that when the new
18. parliament building was completed, many big leaders were invited for
19. attending Hawan / Puja ceremony in the last week of May 2023, but the then
20. President, Ram Nath Kovind was not invited. Statue of father of Indian
21. Constitution, Baba Saheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was also not installed at the new
22. building, though all big and small government departments / institutions are
23. functioning according to the policy and procedures written in the constitution
24. by him. This instance has been taken as an insult by crores of his followers?
25. Similarly, current President Draupadi Murmu was also not invited for the
26. consecration ceremony of Ram Temple at Ayodhya because of her caste. Just
27. a few days ago, another caste based oppression / atrocity matter has come to
28. light from district Ballia of UP, where a group of upper caste people attacked
29. the hosts of marriage being performed saying that – how you can conduct
30. marriage of your daughter in a marriage hall, because you are Chamars?
31. Jealousy and bigotry at its peak….. But surprisingly, when elections are held,
32. people including Dalits, Sikhs, Christians and Muslims, all are treated in a good
33. manner and treated at par with Hindus. Upper caste leaders even go to their
34. homes to take tea or eat food to convey the message that they believe in
35. equality and universal brotherhood. And their double standard (chameleon
36. character) of treating reserved category people as Hindus gets fully exposed
37. just after two months of result of the elections?
38. And the latest case, recently when the current Chief Justice of India, B.R.
39. Gavai visited his home state Maharashtra after becoming CJI, and at a
40. felicitation event in  Mumbai , organised by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and
41. Goa, CJI Gavai lamented, “We say that there are three pillars of democracy,
42. viz. legislature, executive and judiciary, and that all are equal. Every organ of
43. the Constitution must reciprocate and give its due respect to the other organs.

A person from Maharashtra is coming to the state as Chief Justice of India for the first time, but Maharashtra’s Chief Secretary, the state’s Director General of Police and the Mumbai Commissioner of Police do not feel it necessary to welcome him as a matter of respect, whereas the protocol demands that they should be there to welcome him.” Just because of his caste, he was not given his due share of regard and protocol.

The last full-scale, nationwide caste census in India was conducted in 1931 during British rule and this census included the entire British India, encompassing present-day Bangladesh and Pakistan. After gaining independence, though census were conducted many times, but caste-based census was always avoided due to obvious reasons. Though it was planned to conduct census in 2021, but this exercise could not be done due to Covid 19 pandemic. During census, many new parameters (like having telephone, mobile, bike, refrigerator, laptop, air-conditioners, computer – with or without Internet facility, car, house / plot, level of education of each member of the family, etc.) are taken into consideration, then why caste based head counting continued to be avoided?

In view of the foregoing, many social cause groups which are working for the education and welfare / upliftment of reserved category people feel that they should not be included as Hindus. Rather a separate head should be added in the categorization of religion section and these reserved category people
should be written as Bahujan Samaj and three sub-categories should be made under this Bahujan Samaj namely (a) Scheduled Caste, (b) Scheduled Tribe and (c) Other Backward Castes. Only then more realistic figures of caste based census will get clarified and all fund allocation for the welfare of these reserved
category people can be determined. Another major myth will also unfold itself that Hindu religion is the biggest religion, and the false propaganda and impression often being created by many big leaders that the Hindus are in big majority in India, will also evaporate just within a couple of days. On the contrary, Bahujan Samaj whom Manuwadis with their Samantwadis outlook and attitude have been defaming, ignoring and demolishing their social and economic interests, will evaporate just like camphor. And lastly, when the feudalistic Hindus often disdain reserved category people, these Bahujan Samaj people are also not interested to be called and written as Hindus.

Once this exercise gets completed, jobs in government and private sector should be determined based on the result of this caste based census. Not only that, all other political posts starting with members of Village Panchayats, Municipal Councillors, MLAs for state assemblies, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha etc. should also be determined fresh on the basis of this caste based census and it should be borne in mind that people belonging all castes and religions have equal rights over all national resources of the country and hence, all vacancies should be given all people without any discrimination of caste, colour, creed or religion.

Only then, India can boast of making all round development, progress & prosperity and its people capable of competing with other developed nations around the globe.

R.D. Bhardwaj “Noorpuri”