New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday observed that there was nothing improper in the government conducting caste enumeration as part of the nationwide Census 2027 exercise.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who was heading a three-judge bench, stated that any government needed to know how many people belonged to backward communities and how many required welfare measures, describing the matter as one of policy.
The court made the observation while hearing a petition filed by Sudhakar Gummula, who argued against including caste enumeration in the Census 2027. The petitioner contended that there was a risk of politicians and corporate entities misusing caste-related data and questioned the need for collecting such extensive information on caste, The Hindu reported.
However, the Chief Justice said that deciding whether caste enumeration should form part of the census was outside the judiciary’s domain and fell exclusively within the sphere of government policy. The bench subsequently dismissed the petition.
The decision to include caste enumeration in Census 2027 was reportedly taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs during a meeting held in April last year. Since then, caste data collection has emerged as a significant aspect of the upcoming census exercise.
Until the 2011 Census, only Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were systematically enumerated in the census process.
The Union government had earlier informed Parliament that caste enumeration would be included in the second phase of Census 2027. While the first phase involved house listing operations and collection of information regarding housing conditions, assets and amenities, the second phase — population enumeration — is expected to gather demographic, socio-economic and cultural details.
Former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar had earlier remarked that carefully collected caste data could serve as an instrument of integration, comparing it to an MRI scan of the body.
India’s last comprehensive nationwide caste census was conducted in 1931 during the colonial period.