India will conduct a census by caste

The Indian government has included information on citizensʼ caste affiliation in the census.

This is reported by Reuters.

The Cabinet did not give an exact date for the census, which is conducted every ten years. It was supposed to start in 2021, but was postponed due to the pandemic and technical difficulties.

The caste system in India has existed for thousands of years and influences the life and politics of the country. There are many parties that represent the interests of certain castes, and government institutions must allocate quotas for lower castes in employment and education.

Supporters of a caste-based census believe it will help distribute government aid more efficiently. Critics say caste should not matter in a country that aspires to become a global power.

The governmentʼs announcement comes months before elections in Bihar, where caste is a key issue and where Prime Minister Narendra Modiʼs ruling party alliance will fight to retain power. Caste was last recorded in the 2011 census, but the results were not published due to doubts about its accuracy.

The opposition party and its leader Rahul Gandhi are demanding a socio-economic caste census and support amending the Constitution to abolish the current 50% quota limit for lower castes.

The current quotas are based on outdated data, so some analysts fear that the new figures may show more representatives of lower castes, leading to demands to increase the quota share.

Here are the main castes in India:

• The highest caste is the Brahmins. They are priests, teachers, and scholars.
• The second most important are the Kshatriyas. These are the military, politicians, and civil servants.
• The middle class is the Vaishyas. They are merchants, farmers, and artisans.
• The lower caste is the Shudras. These are manual laborers, servants.

There are also Dalits (formerly “untouchables”), who do not belong to any caste. Historically, these people have been discriminated against and have performed “unclean” work (cleaning, leatherworking, burials, etc.).

• At the end of 2022, Indiaʼs population was 1.417 billion, five million more than Chinaʼs, according to data from the World Population Review.

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