Backward Classes group expresses concern over call for caste census

National BC Dal president Dundra Kumaraswamy said the caste enumeration could not be seen as a mere name-gathering exercise, as each individual response would eventually become part of a larger national statistical record with potential implications for understanding the country’s social makeup and informing public policy. | Photo credit: Nagara Gopal

The National BC Dal has expressed serious concern over the proposed caste-centred census over how one social community known by different names across regions, states and linguistic contexts would eventually be considered as one.

Addressing a meeting in Hyderabad on Monday (September 14, 2026), National BC Dal president Dundra Kumaraswamy said variations arising from regional nomenclature, sub-caste identities, local usage, pronunciation and spelling could lead to multiple records of what may socially represent the same community. The key question, he therefore argued, was not only how caste identities would be recorded, but how the various names and terms referring to the same social reality would subsequently be identified, classified and combined to arrive at an accurate population count.

He said the caste enumeration could not be seen as a mere name-gathering exercise, as each individual response would eventually become part of a larger national statistical record with potential implications for understanding the country’s social makeup and informing public policy.

“If members of the same community were recorded under multiple names and these records were not scientifically linked and consolidated, the resulting data could split the numerical representation of that community,” he warned. Mr. Kumarsawamy demanded a transparent and technically robust framework to address regional variations, sub-caste identities and linguistic differences with clear standards for classification and aggregation.

“If one community is scattered after the census under a hundred different names, not only the number but the collective identity of the community in the official record may be lost,” he said.

Published – 14 Sep 2026 19:41 IST