The Caste Census Debate

Why India's next census will count caste for the first time since 1931, the economic arguments for better data, and the concerns raised.

India’s census has counted Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes since independence, but not other caste groups. The last full caste enumeration was in 1931, under British rule. In 2025, the central government announced that caste enumeration would be included in the next national census.

Background

The 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census collected caste data, but the caste results were not fully released, due to concerns about data quality.
Bihar conducted its own caste survey in 2022-23, finding that Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes made up a majority of its population. Other states, such as Karnataka and Telangana, also conducted surveys.

The case for counting caste

Evidence-based policy: reservations and welfare programmes are based on categories whose sizes are estimated from old data.
Tracking inequality: data on education, income and assets by caste can show which groups lag behind.
Targeting: better data can direct resources to those most in need.
Accountability: data helps check whether benefits reach intended groups.

Concerns raised

Social divisions: some worry counting caste could harden caste identities.
Political pressure: new numbers may fuel demands to change reservation limits, including the Supreme Court’s general 50 percent ceiling.
Data quality: India has thousands of castes and sub-castes, and people may report differently, making classification complex.
Privacy and misuse of data.

The economics of data

Economists generally value accurate data for policy. Without it, governments may misallocate resources. The debate is less about whether data is useful than about how it will be used.

Timing

The census, delayed from 2021 because of the pandemic, is planned with a reference date in early 2027.

The outdated estimate

A state designs a scholarship scheme for backward classes based on population shares estimated from 1931 data. Without updated numbers, it cannot know whether its budget matches the size and needs of the groups it aims to help.

Thinking caste data has never been collected

SC and ST populations are counted in every census, and a caste survey was conducted in 2011, but its caste data were not fully released.

Key takeaways

The last full caste count was in 1931; SCs and STs are counted in every census.
The government announced in 2025 that the next census will include caste.
Supporters want evidence for policies and tracking inequality.
Concerns include social division, political pressure and data quality.