The caste census has been a demand of some of the Opposition parties, especially those in the INDIA bloc, for quite some time. The BJP having also now come around to seeing eye to eye with them on it, this marks one of the few occasions in the nation’s history when the ruling party and the Opposition’s views have converged on a domestic policy issue
It may perhaps be one of the sharpest U-turns the BJP and the Union government it leads have taken till now but when it decided to conduct a caste census along with the population census whenever it takes place it was a departure from the politics they have engaged in surrounding issues related to it in the past decades. The caste census has been a demand of some of the Opposition parties, especially those in the INDIA bloc, for quite some time. The BJP having also now come around to seeing eye to eye with them on it, this marks one of the few occasions in the nation’s history when the ruling party and the Opposition’s views have converged on a domestic policy issue.
The NDA leadership, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was steadfast in its opposition to the proposal of conducting a caste census when the Congress and other political parties raised it as a major item on their agenda for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Opposition proposal was unaccompanied by concrete and workable proposals, but still the very talk of redistribution of wealth which should ideally follow a caste census was met with snide responses, which took ugly communal turns the likes of which the country never witnessed. There can be many reasons for the policy shift — the party which talks of ushering in a developed India by 2047 may now have actually found it to be a useful tool to achieve the goal, but equally, it may also have thought it fit not to leave a powerful vote-catching slogan solely in the possession of the Opposition amid the approaching elections to the Bihar Assembly. It is up to the saffron party to explain why it has now chosen to embrace an idea it has vociferously opposed till now.
The caste census should ideally come out with data on the distribution of wealth among people of various classes and castes in the country. Some states have already conducted surveys which largely covered the same topics and came out with unsettling findings. A national exercise in all probability could throw up data that point to huge disparities and inequities within our society.
The Constitution lays importance on social equity and equality and has provided for many a proactive step to achieve those goals. The intent was clear; whether we in the last 75 years worked towards realising them is a different question. Financial and economic equity was a topic on which the Constitution was by and large silent. A caste survey and resolute action based on it could address those issues as well. Together with a solid route map for implementing what the Constitution advocates, it would make India a developed nation by 2047 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi often expounds.
The survey can, however, be a double-edged sword. It could brew resentment among the haves and have-nots and lead to civil unrest. But since almost all political parties are on the same page on the question, they should sit together and brainstorm the possible outcomes of the caste census and the ways and means to handle them so that everyone ends a winner.
