The census census collects information. File | Photo Credit: AP
Despite the complexity involved in its implementation, India is equipped to perform the proposed list of caste as part of the upcoming national census, according to the well -known economist and scholarship of social justice, Professor Sukhdeo Thorat. Professor Thorat, who quoted the country’s extensive experience with extensive data collection and the census and the census, emphasized the importance of performing exercises with professional consideration and technical preparation.
In an exclusive interview with Hindu prof. Thorate, who currently serves on the panel of an expert who reviews the caste survey conducted by telangana, called the Union government not to rush this process. He recommended the establishment of professional committees to prepare the framework, including the design of questionnaires and the standardization of nomenclature caste and partial caste across states.
Thorat stressed that lessons from previous exercises – especially socially -economic and caste census in 2011 and caste surveys conducted in Bihar, Telangana and Karnataka – must inform the current approach. “Since the errors and errors of these experiments have already been identified, we know that problems; these problems can be overcome,” he noted, adding, “I don’t think it’s difficult.”
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Prof. Thorat emphasized the shift in focus on public policy and said that the recent decades have seen the growing demand for “group -oriented politicians” than those who focus on individuals. However, he pointed out that attempts at such political interventions are often braked by the absence of a reliable caste database.
Professor Thorat, who dealt with concerns about the possible abuse of the census data for non -disturbing exclusive demands, noted that such requirements often stem from the graded nature of the caste system. “Each caste different than brahmins suffers from discrimination. So there is a tendency to apply for reservations. At the same time they are not all the same,” he explained.
He stressed that the goal of the caste census should not be limited to the allocation of reservations. “The caste census will make, it is to identify group-specific economic, educational and political problems. Some groups would require reservations; others may need economic or educational support-not necessarily reservation,” he continued.
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Thorat, who previously served as chairman of the University Grants Commission and led the Indian Institute of Dalitian studies, also urged that the census includes systematic collection of data based on castles. He pointed out that existing constitutional and legal frameworks, including the Civil Rights Act, already define 20 to 30 forms of discrimination of caste for which empirical data must be obtained.
“You should have information about the extent to which the caste system has been disturbed. The mind has not yet been used,” he said. He also recorded the unwillingness among some of the caste census of the people to involve discrimination and to invite detailed questions about social, economic and political exclusions across castes and gender groups.
Such measures, prof. Thorat claimed not only to enrich the caste process, but would also help in subcategory within the SC, ST and OBC groups, allowing more nuanced and targeted policy creation.
Published – May 6, 2025 20:58
