Why a Caste Census Is Not So Simple (Sub-castes, New Surnames and Modern Tangles)
N. Singh · ·6 min read
Translated from the original Hindi · मूल हिंदी लेख पढ़ें
These days on TV debates and at political rallies, the demand for a ‘caste census’ is presented as though it were merely the pressing of a button or a straightforward administrative exercise to be wrapped up in ten days. Politicians roar into the microphone—“If the government wanted to, it could count everyone’s caste in a month, but its intent is dishonest!”
Yet those who possess even the slightest acquaintance with India’s sociology, administrative complexities, and ground reality know that enumerating castes in India is the most convoluted, treacherous, and explosive task in the world.
This is not like counting sacks of wheat or the number of vehicles. Caste is no static line etched in stone; it is a chameleon-like social structure that changes its language, surname, category, and social claim every twenty kilometres!
Ground Complexities: Five Yaksha-Prashnas [Perplexing Conundrums] Confronting the Enumerator
When a primary school teacher or government clerk stands at the doorway of a village home with a register in hand, they are confronted with such practical dilemmas for which no answer can be found in any tome of sociology:
- The Endless Chakravyuh [Labyrinthine Trap] of Sub-castes and Gotras [Patrilineal Clans]: India is reckoned to have around 4,000 primary castes, but the number of their sub-castes, sub-sub-castes, and gotras exceeds 25,000. People belonging to the very same caste call themselves by entirely different names across different regions. For instance, one potter (kumhar) will record himself as ‘Prajapati’, a second as ‘Pandit’, a third as ‘Varma’, and a fourth as ‘Kumhar’. Under which category is the enumerator to record him?
- Sanskritisation and the Struggle for Prestige: Sociologist M.N. Srinivas pointed out decades ago that lower castes adopt the rituals, surnames, and lifestyles of upper castes to attain social prestige. Today, there are lakhs of families that wish to be registered as backward to avail reservations, yet project themselves as Kshatriyas or Brahmins for marriages and kinship ties within society. Which truth will they record at the time of enumeration?
- Inter-State Contradictions: The very same caste is classified as a Scheduled Caste (SC) in one state, as an Other Backward Class (OBC) in another, and in the General category in a third! If a family has migrated from Bihar and settled in Delhi or Maharashtra, under which category will they be counted?
- Illegal Infiltration and the Game of Fake Certificates: In border states (such as West Bengal, Assam, Bihar), lakhs of suspect and illegal citizens are comfortably ensconced with surnames of local Indian castes attached to their names. Will a caste census not become an instrument to legitimise these unlawful claims?
- Caste Bias of Administrative Staff: The enumerator themselves inevitably belongs to some caste or another. During Bihar’s caste survey, grave allegations surfaced that many enumerators inflated the numbers of their own caste and arbitrarily entered data without even visiting the homes of other castes.
The Failure of the 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC)
Very few people are aware of the historical fact that in 2011, the central government spent kharabs of rupees [hundreds of billions] conducting the ‘Socio-Economic and Caste Census’ (SECC-2011).
Yet when its data emerged, NITI Aayog and the Registrar General of India were utterly stunned!
- A total of more than 46 lakh distinct names of castes and sub-castes had been recorded in India!
- In place of castes, people had entered the names of their villages, fathers’ names, surnames, gotras, and even the names of their favourite film stars.
- Classifying that data proved so impossible that the government could never make its official caste-wise report public.
Challenges of Caste Enumeration: At a Glance
| Nature of Challenge | Ground Reality | Administrative and Political Fallout |
|---|---|---|
| Multiplicity of Surnames | Dozens of distinct surnames within the same caste (Varma, Singh, Sharma, Chaudhary) | Colossal errors in classification and endless legal disputes |
| Coercion and Intimidation | Pressure exerted by dominant, muscle-flexing castes on enumerators to inflate numbers | Reliability of figures reduced to zero; creation of fraudulent data |
| The Caste Certificate Racket | Court battles and agitations to get castes included in new categories | A race among various castes to corner OBC or ST status (Jats, Marathas, Patidars) |
| Religious Complexity | Retention of Pasmanda and Dalit identities despite conversion to Islam or Christianity | Threat to secularism and the basic structure of the Constitution |
The Bitter Truth from the Book: N. Singh’s Incisive Analysis
Writing in the chapter ‘The Labyrinth of Counting’ of his book ‘Ginti Se Satta Tak’ (From Counting to Power), the author N. Singh notes:
“Enumerating caste in India is no ordinary administrative exercise; it is akin to standing at the mouth of a social volcano and weighing gunpowder. Every caste wants to inflate its numbers so that it can amplify its bargaining power in politics. If the government announces a caste’s numbers to be less than its expectations, then the very next day arson, rail-blockade agitations, and violence will erupt on the streets. Is our fragile administrative machinery prepared to weather such catastrophic social conflict?”
— N. Singh (Ginti Se Satta Tak, pages 64–65)
The author further poses a deeply poignant question:
“In the twenty-first century, we speak of Artificial Intelligence (AI), semiconductors, and space missions, yet our politics is hell-bent on thrusting the nation’s youth back into colonial pigeonholes of 1931. The question is not whether we can count caste or not; the question is, once caste is counted, does any political party possess the strength to heal and contain the social rancour and division it unleashes?”
— (Ginti Se Satta Tak, page 68)
The Way Forward: How Should Data Be Utilised?
- Digital and Transparent Verification: If a socio-economic survey is ever undertaken, it must not be conducted on handwritten paper sheets, but entirely through biometric and Aadhaar-linked digital channels, ensuring no individual can lodge duplicate or fraudulent claims.
- Priority to Economic Indicators: Rather than caste, an 80% weightage should be accorded to income, landholding, pucca [permanent brick-and-mortar] housing, educational attainment, and household assets.
- Liberation from the Pressure of Caste Agitations: Any decision to accord a special category to a caste must not stem from stone-pelting on the streets or vote-bank coercion, but must be determined by independent judicial and statistical commissions.
A Question for Reflection (The Message of the Book)
Will counting caste propel India towards social justice, or will it thrust the country back into that 1931 era where every citizen was fighting another as merely a soldier of his own caste?
To gain a profound understanding of all the unresolved dimensions, figures, and administrative intricacies of this complex problem, this chapter from N. Singh’s book ‘Ginti Se Satta Tak: Bharat Ka Ankaha Yuddh’ (From Counting to Power: India’s Untold War) is an essential read for every policymaker and citizen.
In India, caste is no static line, but a mark drawn on water that alters its name, form, and claim every ten *kos* [roughly thirty kilometres]. The administrative claim to count it is, in itself, the greatest delusion.