The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claims that conducting a caste survey during the national census is difficult due to administrative, legal, and technical issues. The demand for a caste census has been a hot topic in politics, with opposition parties and social justice parties pushing for it to determine reservations for Other Backward Communities (OBCs) in jobs and educational institutions.
The Congress-led UPA government conducted a Socio-Economic and Caste Census in 2011-12 but never released its data due to varying opinions within the government. Laxman, the president of BJP’s OBC Morcha, said that conducting a caste census is challenging due to various castes listed under state OBC lists but not included in the central OBC list. Non-OBC castes also seek inclusion in the OBC category, which makes it difficult for the central government.
For example, in Uttar Pradesh, some Brahmin castes are classified as OBCs, while the entire Vaishya community is listed under the OBC category in Bihar. However, in other states, they belong to the general caste category. Furthermore, in certain regions, Jats are not included in the OBC list.
Moreover, Laxman argued that a comprehensive study is required to include all deserving castes in the OBC list before conducting a caste-based census. He said that state governments are free to conduct caste-based surveys.
Different opposition parties have been more vocal about their demand for a caste census, particularly after the imposition of reservation for Economically Weaker Classes (EWS) by the Narendra Modi government. The EWS reservation was seen as an anomaly in the caste-based affirmative action policy, as the criteria was poverty and viewed as a means of denying marginalised castes and communities their rights.
In conclusion, the BJP claims that conducting a caste survey during the national census is difficult due to legal, administrative, and technical issues. However, opposition parties and social justice parties continue to push for a caste census on a national level to determine reservations for OBCs in jobs and educational institutions. Meanwhile, state governments are free to conduct their own caste-based surveys.
