New Delhi: In the face of considerable pressure from the Opposition, and some of its own ministers, the government indicated that it may include caste in the current census. Some in the Cabinet, including Home Minister P Chidambaram, had not been in favour of this.
But on the last day of this parliament session, after frequent adjournments, the Prime Minister said, "I am aware of the views of the members of parliament belonging to all sections. I assure you that the Cabinet will take a decision shortly."
The government's main trouble shooter, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, confirmed to NDTV that caste will be included in the census for the first time in independent India. However, he said that while caste data would be noted by census officials, it will not be analyzed by the government.
The decision raises many questions about the motive. Did the government's stand on caste and the census have to do with a meeting, on Thursday night, between Mukherjee and the Yadavs, Lalu and Mulayam, who are OBC leaders? On Friday morning, they agreed to allow the introduction of the nuclear liability bill, a crucial piece of legislation for the government.
Or is the stand on the census the result of collective pressure from Parliament and the government? Earlier this week, the Home Minister had said at a cabinet meeting that including caste in the census would be logistically impossible. On Friday, in his speech in Parliament, he said, "There can be different views on the subject and we must respect each other's views. In fact, Hon'ble Members who said that 'caste is a reality' also acknowledged that caste is a divisive factor and that we are nowhere near establishing a casteless society.
It has been pointed out that the census is meant to collect 'observational data'. Twenty-one lakh enumerators, mostly primary school teachers, have been selected and trained. They have been trained to ask the question and record the answer as returned by the respondent. The enumerator is not an investigator or verifier. And, it must be clearly understood, that the enumerator has no training or expertise to classify the answer as OBC or otherwise."
The Indian constitution may have looked ahead to a society without caste divisions, but the reality of politics today, with its caste-based parties and reservations, has forced a new direction. There are those, however, who point out that perhaps a concrete and updated data base will help in the evolution of a more accurate and factual political landscape.