Maha Kumbh, COVID-19, And the Great Indian Habit of Miscounting
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Maha Kumbh, COVID-19, And the Great Indian Habit of Miscounting

The Quint  

India is at once home to some of the world’s finest statistical institutions – ISI Kolkata, the Census Bureau, and top-tier mathematicians – while remaining strangely susceptible to miscounting. Joel Lee, in his book Deceptive Majority, reports how census enumerators nonchalantly miscount. In post-Independence India, the population of castes and sub-castes in official surveys became a site of political contestation, as caste-based reservations turned numerical strength into bargaining power. The anxiety over caste census is often dismissed as the upper castes' fear of losing power.

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History of this topic

Comprehensive caste survey can justify legislative and constitutional measures to increase reservations: BC leaders
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Comprehensive caste survey can justify legislative and constitutional measures to increase reservations: BC leaders

The Hindu  

Former State BC Commission chairman Vakulabharanam Krishna Mohan Rao has criticised Chief Minister A.Revanth Reddy for stating that exceeding the 50% reservation cap was constitutionally impossible. He argued that a comprehensive caste survey could provide the necessary justification for legislative and constitutional measures to increase reservations. Several prominent intellectuals and BC association leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP R.Krishnaiah, former minister …

Uttam rejects doubts about caste survey
Trending News
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Uttam rejects doubts about caste survey

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad: Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy dismissed doubts cast on the caste survey by the opposition parties in the Assembly, stating it was a massive exercise done systematically and an inclusive one. Similarly, the Scheduled Tribes population percentage has increased from 9.8 per cent to 10.45 per cent, while the Other Castes population percentage decreased from 21.55 per cent to 15.79 …

'Dividing society for political interests is nothing less than treason': Yogi Adityanath on caste census demand
2 months ago

'Dividing society for political interests is nothing less than treason': Yogi Adityanath on caste census demand

Firstpost  

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cautioned the ‘followers of Sanatan Dharma’ to be wary of ’those trying to divide people’ Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi at the Maha Kumbh 2025 in Prayagraj, slammed efforts to divide the society. Adityanath was answering a question about the caste census proposed …

Rahul Gandhi's caste con-census in Karnataka
2 months, 1 week ago

Rahul Gandhi's caste con-census in Karnataka

India Today  

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been vociferously demanding a caste survey of the entire nation for about a year now. While Rahul Gandhi has been prescribing an "X-ray" of the entire country through a caste census, his party has backtracked on releasing the X-ray report of Karnataka. Sources told India Today TV's Nagarjun Dwarkanath that Karnataka deputy chief minister DK …

Caste census: Political compulsion brings together Lingayats and Vokkaligas for a coordinated fight
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Caste census: Political compulsion brings together Lingayats and Vokkaligas for a coordinated fight

The Hindu  

The dominant land-owning communities of Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva-Lingayats in Karnataka, which are more often divided over the issue of power-sharing, seem to be coming together to fight the Socio-Economic and Educational Survey which is likely to be brought for discussion before the next Cabinet meeting. Driven by political compulsions, the much-contested caste census is expected to be discussed in the …

Need caste survey to ensure proportionate reservation: JKPCC chief Karra
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Need caste survey to ensure proportionate reservation: JKPCC chief Karra

Hindustan Times  

The Congress’ Jammu and Kashmir unit president Tariq Hameed Karra on Tuesday said a caste survey is needed to give proportionate reservation to various underprivileged sections of the society. JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra “We believe that reservation distribution should be on the basis of justice but for that it is necessary to have a caste census,” Karra told reporters …

Rajnath Singh attacks Rahul Gandhi for caste census promise, says Cong misleads people
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Rajnath Singh attacks Rahul Gandhi for caste census promise, says Cong misleads people

Deccan Chronicle  

Ranchi: Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi for promising of caste census if Congress is voted to power, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday accused the party of misleading people and wondered why it did not carry out the exercise when the grand old party ruled the country. According to the social welfare ministry, there were around 1200 Scheduled Castes, over …

Census Sparks Debate: Need for Precise Data on Other Backward Classes
4 months, 3 weeks ago

Census Sparks Debate: Need for Precise Data on Other Backward Classes

New Indian Express  

The 2025 Census in India is facing controversy due to the demand for a caste census. The opposition has launched a campaign for counting the numbers of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), while parties such as Janata Dal and Lok Janshakti Party support the central government's efforts to rectify an alleged imbalance in caste and sub-caste data. The 2025 census gives …

DC Edit | RSS backing caste census spells a problem for BJP
6 months, 3 weeks ago

DC Edit | RSS backing caste census spells a problem for BJP

Deccan Chronicle  

The cautious clearance that the BJP’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has given to the idea of conducting a caste-based census nevertheless puts it in a serious dilemma. Despite consistent opposition to the idea by the BJP, voiced by its senior leaders including Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the RSS, after a just-concluded brainstorming session in Kerala, greenlighted …

BJP Faces Dilemma Over RSS-endorsed Caste Census
6 months, 3 weeks ago

BJP Faces Dilemma Over RSS-endorsed Caste Census

Deccan Chronicle  

New Delhi: The BJP seems to be caught in a dilemma after the RSS gave a green signal to a nationwide caste census, an issue that is being raised by the Congress time and again. While the BJP is maintaining a stoic silence after the RSS indicated that the caste census “could be carried out for the betterment of the …

Lalu Yadav on caste census: ‘Will hold RSS, BJP by ear, make them do sit-ups’
6 months, 3 weeks ago

Lalu Yadav on caste census: ‘Will hold RSS, BJP by ear, make them do sit-ups’

Hindustan Times  

Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday declared that the opposition would compel the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to conduct a caste census. Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav holds a mic while RJD Chief Lalu Prasad addresses party workers during 28th foundation of Rashtriya Janata Dal, at the party office …

OPINION | Caste Census: Why did RSS propose?
6 months, 3 weeks ago

OPINION | Caste Census: Why did RSS propose?

India TV News  

Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the ideological mentor of Bharatiya Janata Party, on Monday clearly indicated its support to the caste census, but added a rider saying that the census should not be used as ‘a political tool.’ At the end of the three-day Samanwaya Baithak between RSS and its frontline outfits, Sunil Ambekar, prachar pramukh of RSS told a press conference: …

Kerala: RSS in support of caste census, but with a rider
6 months, 3 weeks ago

Kerala: RSS in support of caste census, but with a rider

New Indian Express  

PALAKKAD: In a clear message to the BJP which is yet to declare its stance on the contentious caste census issue, the RSS said on Monday that it has no objection to collecting data on specific communities or castes to ensure effective delivery of social welfare schemes. However, the Sangh Parivar fountainhead added a rider: “Don’t use the census data …

RSS supports caste census but warns against 'political use'
6 months, 3 weeks ago

RSS supports caste census but warns against 'political use'

Hindustan Times  

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Monday backed the caste census saying it should be handled with seriousness, not merely for elections or politics. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been demanding caste census, claiming that 90 percent of India's population is not a part of the system. Recently, 'Mood of the Nation' survey conducted by CVoter for India …

‘90% people sitting out of system’: Rahul Gandhi's fresh caste census demand
7 months ago

‘90% people sitting out of system’: Rahul Gandhi's fresh caste census demand

Hindustan Times  

Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday reiterated the demand for a caste census, claiming that 90 per cent of India's population is not a part of the system. Addressing the ‘Samvidhan Samman Sammelan’ in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj, the former Congress chief said,"Ninety per cent of people are sitting outside the system, they have skills and knowledge …

Emerging dimensions of caste politics in India
7 months, 1 week ago

Emerging dimensions of caste politics in India

Hindustan Times  

The discourse on the politics of caste in India seems stuck in the binary of supporting or opposing caste-based reservations. The third phase of reservation politics has already begun with quota benefits to economically weaker sections and political mobilisation around conducting a caste census. In some ways, the mobilisation around social groups in India is a result of political competition …

'INDIA bloc will remove 50% cap on reservations if voted to power': Rahul Gandhi
1 year, 1 month ago

'INDIA bloc will remove 50% cap on reservations if voted to power': Rahul Gandhi

India Today  

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday promised a nationwide caste census and removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation if the INDIA bloc forms the government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha polls. Gandhi also launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying when the demand for caste census was raised and the time came …

Caught in a row, RSS says it is not against a caste census
1 year, 3 months ago

Caught in a row, RSS says it is not against a caste census

The Hindu  

Days after one of its senior functionaries opposed a caste census, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Thursday said that any such census should be used for the upliftment of society, emphasising that political parties must ensure that social harmony is not disrupted due to any reason. ‘Need Hindu society sans inequality’ Clarifying the Sangh’s official stand through social media, the …

Caste survey will do no good, will aggravate inequality: RSS
1 year, 3 months ago

Caste survey will do no good, will aggravate inequality: RSS

Hindustan Times  

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh does not support the demand of a nationwide caste census, its functionary Shridhar Ghadge said on Tuesday, adding that caste-based enumeration would exacerbate societal inequalities in the country. Union home minister Amit Shah had last month said that the BJP has never opposed the idea of caste census, but a decision in this regard would be …

We need well-designed and nationally-accepted tools to measure social inequality
1 year, 4 months ago

We need well-designed and nationally-accepted tools to measure social inequality

Live Mint  

Several states in India have collected detailed caste and sub-caste data over the past few years. There are three key reasons behind the reluctance to conduct a nation-wide caste census: fear of legitimizing caste, vested interests, and concerns related to data integrity. In a comprehensive caste count, demands to club different caste names in one group or split one name …

Chhattisgarh election: Caste count plank adds new strand to key battle
1 year, 4 months ago

Chhattisgarh election: Caste count plank adds new strand to key battle

Hindustan Times  

Dappled slats of sunlight filtered through flecks of dust and soot warm Kunti Devi’s humble tea shop at the kachha crossroads outside Tundri village. Then one man mentions the Congress’s repeated refrain on the campaign trail of a nationwide caste census and the tempo abruptly dips. In this confusion playing out in the flatlands of Chhattisgarh days before a crucial …

Caste census crucial to ensure participation of all in govt: Rahul in MP
1 year, 4 months ago

Caste census crucial to ensure participation of all in govt: Rahul in MP

Hindustan Times  

Bhopal: Caste census is necessary to ensure participation of other backward classes, dalits and tribals in government as per their proportion in population, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of opposing the caste-based enumeration exercise. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls himself an OBC, but when it comes to …

Caste census finds resonance in Rajasthan
1 year, 5 months ago

Caste census finds resonance in Rajasthan

Hindustan Times  

In September 1987, 18-year-old Roop Kanwar was forced to commit Sati on her husband’s funeral pyre in Rajasthan. In the run-up to the 2023 assembly election, almost all caste groups in Rajasthan held mahasammelans as a show of strength, with three major demands: an increase in reservation, a hike in political representation and that a caste census be conducted. Congress …

Bihar caste survey results challenge BJP’s Hindutva unity narrative
1 year, 5 months ago

Bihar caste survey results challenge BJP’s Hindutva unity narrative

The Hindu  

Published : Oct 19, 2023 11:00 IST - 17 MINS READ In the 1960s, Ram Manohar Lohia of the Samyukta Socialist Party coined the slogan: Sansopa ne baandhi gaanth, Pichchde paaven sau me saat, Raj paat hai kiske haath, Angrezi aur unchi jaath With the Bihar government, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a Lohiaite, releasing its caste survey data …

The case for caste census in India | Explained
1 year, 5 months ago

The case for caste census in India | Explained

The Hindu  

The story so far: After the publication of a caste survey in Bihar, which found that 63% of Bihar’s 13 crore population belong to castes listed under the Extremely Backward Classes and Other Backward Classes categories, Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised and rejected the demand for a nationwide caste census made by Congress and several other Opposition parties. The commission …

NSS hits out at the pitch for caste census, says it’s a threat to nation’s unity
1 year, 5 months ago

NSS hits out at the pitch for caste census, says it’s a threat to nation’s unity

The Hindu  

The Nair Service Society has frowned at the Congress call to conduct a caste census. NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair said at Perunna on Tuesday that vote bank politics motivated the growing chorus for an updated caste census. “Caste-based reservation is a key driver of the savarna-avarna culture that cultivates rivalry between castes which enjoy the benefits of reservation …

Opinion: Caste census plank gives Rahul Gandhi leg-up within Congress and INDIA bloc
1 year, 5 months ago

Opinion: Caste census plank gives Rahul Gandhi leg-up within Congress and INDIA bloc

India Today  

These are interesting and exciting times in the grand old party. The Congress Working Committee unanimously endorsed Rahul Gandhi’s idea of caste-based census without a fuss. The status of a migrant from one state to another and the status of children of inter-caste marriage, in terms of caste classification, are also vexed questions.” On October 9, 2023, Chidambaram was present …

Equality and identity: The Hindu Editorial on the findings of the Bihar caste count
1 year, 5 months ago

Equality and identity: The Hindu Editorial on the findings of the Bihar caste count

The Hindu  

The significance of Bihar conducting a caste survey and publishing a caste-wise count of its population is quite immense. The survey, which had all the trappings of a census, complete with a two-stage process of house-listing followed by the eliciting of information from the households, has shown that 63% of Bihar’s 13 crore population belong to castes listed under the …

What the caste survey means for Nitish-Lalu, and the BJP
1 year, 5 months ago

What the caste survey means for Nitish-Lalu, and the BJP

Hindustan Times  

The caste survey report conducted by the Bihar government and released earlier this week, in all probability is an indicator of another social churning in the state. “The impact of the caste survey would be discernible in the months to come as it has provided the actual numerical strength of caste groups, which could create a new set of leaders …

Differing views on impact of caste survey findings in Karnataka
1 year, 5 months ago

Differing views on impact of caste survey findings in Karnataka

Hindustan Times  

Bengaluru: Several leaders within the Congress raised a demand for the release of the report, following the footsteps of the Bihar government. As pressure builds on the Congress government in Karnataka to release a socio-economic survey report, commonly referred to as the ‘caste survey,’ party leaders and political observers are divided on the electoral implications of the findings of the …

Counting people, lesson from Bihar
1 year, 5 months ago

Counting people, lesson from Bihar

Hindustan Times  

While caste informs every aspect of the South Asian experience — knowledge, stratification, power, intimacy, theology — the Indian governing classes have been so far averse to its inclusion as a category in the decennial Census. The persistent caste blindness has been breached by the Bihar government’s release of the first set of caste-based survey data on the symbolic occasion …

Just counting castes not enough, reveal findings of socio-economic survey as well: RLJD leader Upendra Kushwaha
1 year, 5 months ago

Just counting castes not enough, reveal findings of socio-economic survey as well: RLJD leader Upendra Kushwaha

The Hindu  

Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal leader Upendra Kushwaha, an ally of the ruling National Democratic Alliance, has demanded the release of the findings of the Bihar socio-economic survey — which was conducted alongside the caste survey whose results have caused a furore since it was made public — arguing that this would provide a “full picture” to policy framers to address …

How a landmark caste census in India threatens Modi’s grip on power
1 year, 5 months ago

How a landmark caste census in India threatens Modi’s grip on power

Al Jazeera  

The findings have the potential to upend the country’s politics, as marginalised groups demand better representation in public institutions. The findings from Bihar, one of India’s poorest yet politically significant states, have the potential to upend the country’s politics, with demands being made for a similar nationwide census, opening the doors for a revamp of the country’s affirmative action plans …

Caste census offers a self-propagating campaign for the Opposition
1 year, 5 months ago

Caste census offers a self-propagating campaign for the Opposition

The Hindu  

With the Bihar caste census, the Opposition feels that it has been handed over a self-propagating campaign that could fuel their campaign for the 2024 general elections, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi remarked during a public meeting in Chhattisgarh that the biggest community in the country is the “poor”. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi at the last meeting of …

A national caste census looks all but inevitable
1 year, 5 months ago

A national caste census looks all but inevitable

Live Mint  

The term ‘historic’ may have lost its punch from overuse, but Bihar’s caste count will qualify if it revives the Mandal movement in Indian politics and forces a quota policy rejig. With our democracy’s dynamics shaped by shifts in OBC support and a popular appetite for data whetted by hot news of Bihar’s caste break-up, an all-India caste census looks …

Bihar caste-based census news: CM Nitish Kumar calls an all-party meeting
1 year, 5 months ago

Bihar caste-based census news: CM Nitish Kumar calls an all-party meeting

Live Mint  

A day after releasing data from a caste-based census in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called an all-party meeting to discuss the results of the survey and deliberate on the next course of action. 2)The survey also stated that Yadavs, the OBC group to which Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav belongs, was the largest in terms of the population, …

Bihar's caste survey a brave step forward, Maharashtra and other states should follow suit: NCP MLA
1 year, 5 months ago

Bihar's caste survey a brave step forward, Maharashtra and other states should follow suit: NCP MLA

The Hindu  

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party MLA Jitendra Awhad has hailed the Bihar government's caste survey and demanded that a similar exercise be carried out in all states of the country, including Maharashtra, alleging that the rights of the OBCs were being snatched away. "Our demand is that a caste-based census be carried out.What Bihar has done has to be …

Bihar caste survey: Opposition steps up call for similar drive in heartland states
1 year, 5 months ago

Bihar caste survey: Opposition steps up call for similar drive in heartland states

Hindustan Times  

The results of Bihar’s caste survey announced on Monday galvanised opposition parties in the heartland states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to demand similar exercises in their states. “The caste census is a must in UP as well to ensure correct share of various castes in various government schemes,” RLD state president Ramashish Rai said. “We demand the UP …

Bihar caste survey: Opposition sees scope for new narrative, poll dividends
1 year, 5 months ago

Bihar caste survey: Opposition sees scope for new narrative, poll dividends

Hindustan Times  

When Bihar’s Nitish Kumar demanded a caste survey as early as 2021 -- a few months after the Bharatiya Janata Party, then an ally, outperformed his party in the state elections -- other parties in the state supported him, but it was yet to become the national imperative opposition parties would now like to see it as. “The Indian National …

INDIA bloc cites Bihar data to reiterate demand for nationwide caste census
1 year, 5 months ago

INDIA bloc cites Bihar data to reiterate demand for nationwide caste census

The Hindu  

Citing the findings of the Bihar caste survey, leaders of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance on October 2 reiterated their demand for conducting a countrywide caste census to ensure “social justice” to the deprived classes. Welcoming the move of the Bihar government, Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh said a similar survey was done earlier by the party in Karnataka …

Bihar releases caste survey report, OBCs and EBCs account for THIS much of total state population | CHECK
1 year, 5 months ago

Bihar releases caste survey report, OBCs and EBCs account for THIS much of total state population | CHECK

India TV News  

In a significant development, the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government on Monday released the findings of its much-awaited caste survey, which revealed that OBCs and EBCs constitute a whopping 63 per cent of the state’s total population. The state’s total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which, 27.13 per cent of Bihar's total population is from Backward …

Bihar caste-based survey | Data will help in upliftment of all sections: CM Nitish Kumar's first reaction
1 year, 5 months ago

Bihar caste-based survey | Data will help in upliftment of all sections: CM Nitish Kumar's first reaction

India TV News  

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday hailed the team that engaged in the work of caste-based enumeration and said the data of the survey will help to make appropriate policies for the people from every section. Taking to microblogging site X, he wrote, "Today, on the auspicious occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, the data of caste-based survey conducted in Bihar …

Number Theory: Unpacking educational disparity among Dalits
1 year, 5 months ago

Number Theory: Unpacking educational disparity among Dalits

Hindustan Times  

Caste-based inequalities in education are well-documented and often regarded as one of the primary reasons for continued socioeconomic disadvantage of the Scheduled Castes. In theory, all subcastes within the SCs hold the right to reservation, and thus, one may argue, the experience at the subcaste level should not deviate much from the average educational outcomes of SCs as a group. …

DC Edit | Go ahead with caste census
1 year, 6 months ago

DC Edit | Go ahead with caste census

Deccan Chronicle  

There seems to be a bit of a political fault line, which might well go on to become a major electoral issue between the ruling BJP and the Opposition INDIA alliance led by the Congress but is something on which all political sides can easily work out a consensus and it is the matter of conducting caste-based census. The next …

Counting is crucial for democracy’s longevity
1 year, 6 months ago

Counting is crucial for democracy’s longevity

Hindustan Times  

A few years ago, I visited a hospital in a remote area not far from Amarkantak, where the source of the river Narmada is to be found. It leads to leprosy and no one seems interested in counting the sufferers so nothing is done about them.” Tuberculosis, or TB, is another once common infectious disease that can be cured by …

Holding caste-based ‘counting’, not census in Bihar: CM Nitish
1 year, 6 months ago

Holding caste-based ‘counting’, not census in Bihar: CM Nitish

Hindustan Times  

The Bihar government is holding a caste-based “counting” and not a census in the state, chief minister Nitish Kumar said on Tuesday, a day after the Union government told the Supreme Court that only the Centre is empowered to carry out a census under the Constitution. The sad part is that the stand of the petitioners and the Central government …

Inside the survey to enumerate India’s oldest fault line
1 year, 7 months ago

Inside the survey to enumerate India’s oldest fault line

Hindustan Times  

Patna The muddy expanse of the Ganga stretched out in front of her, Afreen Jahan waited on the sandy shores on the outskirts of Patna one Monday morning in early May, her face and hands draped in a dupatta. In the original playground of Mandal -- the rewiring of heartland politics began in Bihar in the late 1960s, fronted by …

How a caste survey could upend politics in the world’s largest democracy
1 year, 10 months ago

How a caste survey could upend politics in the world’s largest democracy

The Independent  

The morning milk is yet to be delivered, but the April heat is already leaving stains on his shirt. “As a result, the structure is dominated by Upper Castes.” A renewed focus on caste poses a danger to the governing BJP’s electoral successes and could fragment its umbrella voting bloc of Hindus. “They would prefer to pit Muslims against Hindus …

Why is BJP afraid of caste-based survey, asks Lalu Prasad
1 year, 10 months ago

Why is BJP afraid of caste-based survey, asks Lalu Prasad

The Hindu  

A day after the Patna High Court issued a stay order on the State’s planned caste-based census, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Friday backed the exercise, claiming that most people want the survey to be conducted. Editorial | The caste imperative: On the subject of an updated caste census ‘Majority demand’ Slamming the BJP’s leaders, the RJD supremo …

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