Context: In this article we will discuss about the need for a closer engagement between all stakeholders of the Census and the Socio-Economic and Caste Census.

Importance of Census

• Enumerating, describing and understanding the population of a society and what people have access to, and what they are excluded from, is important not only for social scientists but also for policy practitioners and the government.
• In this regard, the Census of India enumerates and collects demographic and socio-economic information on the Indian population.

About the Census

• India’s Census is one of the largest exercises of its kind.
• The synchronous decennial Census which dates back to the colonial exercise of 1881 has evolved over time.
• The census data has been used by the government, policymakers, academics, and others to capture the Indian population, its access to resources, and to map social change.
• However, W.W.M. Yeatts, Census Commissioner for India for the 1941 Census had pointed out that, “the census is a large, immensely powerful, but blunt instrument unsuited for specialised enquiry”.
• Other critiques also consider the Census as both a data collection effort and a technique of governance, but not quite useful enough for a detailed and comprehensive understanding of a complex society.

Issue

• The usefulness of the Census cannot be disregarded, for instance with regard to the delimitation exercise.
• However, there is a lack of depth where some issues are concerned.
• In this context, the discussion around caste and its enumeration has been controversial.

Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC)

• Since Independence, aggregated Census data on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on certain parameters such as education have been collected.
• With demands to conduct a full-scale caste census gaining traction over time, some have seen the inclusion of broader caste information as a necessity to capture contemporary Indian society and to understand and remedy inequalities.
• However, a few believe that this large administrative exercise of capturing caste and its complexities is not only difficult, but also socially untenable.
• Following decades of debate, the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) was conducted in 2011 and took a few years to complete; this was a distinct exercise from the Census of 2011.
• The SECC, which collected the first figures on caste in Census operations since 1931, is the largest exercise of the enumeration of caste.
• It has the potential to allow for a mapping of inequalities at a broader level.

The main concerns

• It would be tricky to ignore the emotive element of caste and the political and social repercussions of a caste census.
• There have been concerns that counting caste may help solidify or harden identities, or that caste may be context-specific, and thus difficult to measure.
• These discussions along with various counterarguments are not new.
• In discussions around caste, scholars have demonstrated that the Census had the effect of marking out caste and community in the forms that are seen today.

The other concern is whether an institution such as caste can even be captured completely by the Census.

• Also, questions remain on whether the SECC is able to cover the effects of caste as an aspect of Indian social structure in everyday life. And, can the SECC take into account the nuances that shape caste and simultaneously the ways in which caste shapes everyday life in India?
• There is a time lag between each Census, also delay in the release of data. For instance, nearly a decade after the SECC, a sizeable amount of data remains unreleased.

Census v/s SECC

• The Census and the SECC have different purposes.
• Since the Census falls under the Census Act of 1948, all data are considered confidential, whereas according to the SECC website, “all the personal information given in the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) is open for use by Government departments to grant and/or restrict benefits to households”.
• The Census thus provides a portrait of the Indian population, while the SECC is a tool to identify beneficiaries of state support.
• This difference is significant as it influences not only the methods of collection but also the use and potential for misuse of data.

Suggestion

• The need of the hour is a discussion on the caste data that already exists.
• How it has been used to grant or withdraw benefits.
• Its utility for the important academic exercise of mapping social inequalities and social change.
• Linking and syncing aggregated Census data to other large datasets such as the National Sample Surveys or the National Family Health Surveys that cover issues that the Census exercises do not, such as maternal health, would be significant for a more comprehensive analysis, enabling the utilisation of the large body of data that already exists.
• There needs to be a closer and continuous engagement between functionaries of the Census and SECC, along with academics and other stakeholders concerned, since the Census and the SECC are projects of governance as well as of academic interest.
• Before another SECC is conducted, a stocktaking of the previous exercise, of what has been learnt from it, and what changes are necessary are crucial to enable the Census to facilitate effective policy work and academic reflection.

Road Ahead

• Census operations across the world are going through significant changes, employing methods that are precise, faster and cost-effective, involving coordination between different data sources.
• However, care must be taken to ensure that digital alternatives and linking of data sources involving Census operations are inclusive and non-discriminatory, especially given the sensitive nature of the data being collected.