Historical Background and Current Challenges of the Caste Census in India

• The first detailed caste Census was conducted in India in 1871-72.

• The Census collected caste-based information and classified various groups across four major regions.

• W. Chichele Plowden referred to the question of caste as ‘confusing’.

• The same issues persisted in the caste Census of 1931, where 4,147 castes were identified.

• The Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) of 2011 identified over 46.7 lakh castes/sub-castes with 8.2 crore acknowledged errors.

• Controversy surrounding the inclusion of ‘hijra’ and ‘kinnar’ as categories in the caste list in the Bihar Census (2022) is a recent example.

• Upward Caste Mobility Claims: Caste claims can be influenced by perceived prestige and social group positions within the varna hierarchy.

• Downward Caste Mobility Claims: Some respondents may claim to belong to a group positioned lower in the social hierarchy, likely due to advantages associated with reservation policies.

• Similar-sounding castes and surnames often lead to confusion in caste classification.

• The system of reserving positions based on a reserved category’s quota is impractical and regressive.