Center urged to assign unique caste codes in ongoing census

Metro India News | Hyderabad 

The BC Intellectuals Forum Chairman and retired IAS officer T. Chiranjeevulu on Friday urged the Central Government to assign a unique identification code to every caste across the country and conduct the caste census based on that system. The BC Intellectuals Forum and the BC Political Front jointly organized a press conference at the Basheerbagh Press Club on the theme, "Caste Census in the National Census – Are Backward Classes Being Deceived Again?", urging the Central Government to adopt a scientific and standardized approach to caste enumeration.

Ex-IAS officer T. Chiranjeevulu noted that pre-testing of the Phase-II population enumeration questionnaire is currently being conducted in 16 states and Union Territories from July 6 to July 18. Expressing concern over the proposed methodology, he said that while Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are being recorded using pre-assigned unique codes, an open-ended system is being followed for all other castes. 

Under this method, enumerators record the caste as stated by respondents, which, he said, could result in the same caste being entered under different names in different regions, leading to duplication inflated caste counts, and reduced reliability of the data. The former IAS officer also called for revision of the existing 29-question schedule used in the 2011 Census by incorporating additional questions that comprehensively capture the social, economic, educational and political status of various communities. 

All India BSP Convener and former Director General of Police (DGP) J.Purna Chander Rao criticized the Centre's handling of the current caste census process, claiming it lacked sincerity and expressing concern that attempts were being made to dilute the exercise. BC Political Front Chairman Balagoni Balaraju Goud urged BJP MPs belonging to the Backward Classes to raise the issue during the upcoming session of Parliament. All India OBC Students Association leader Kiran Kumar said that adopting a unique caste code system is essential for conducting the caste census in a scientific and professionally standardized manner.