Govt. yet to decide how open-field caste data will be sorted, tabulated, Pg11

Key Highlights:

• The Union government has notified an "open-column method" for recording caste data in the second phase of the 2027 Census.
• A decision is pending on how to sort, tabulate, and rationalize the caste data collected through this method.
• This approach allows individuals not belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) or Scheduled Tribes (ST) to manually enter their caste name or opt for "no-caste".
• Critics argue this method risks repeating issues of the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), which yielded over 46 lakh different caste names and was subsequently shelved.
• The 2027 Census includes 13 new questions, such as caste, family particulars, ID proofs, and COVID vaccinations, out of a total of 40 questions.

Detailed Insights:

• The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India is responsible for designing the questionnaire and conducting the decennial census.
• The Census Act, 1948, provides the legal framework for conducting the census in India.
• Caste enumeration was a regular feature of the British Indian census from 1872 to 1931, but was discontinued after independence in 1951, except for SCs and STs.
• The 2011 SECC was the first attempt to collect comprehensive caste data since 1931, but its caste data was not officially released due to methodological challenges and political sensitivities.
• The "open-column method" can lead to ambiguities due to spelling variations, regional names, and sub-castes, making data compilation and comparison difficult.
• The government's own affidavit to the Supreme Court in 2021 acknowledged that open self-reporting can lead to unreliable data for policy purposes.
• The final decision on data sorting methodology will be made by the Union Home Ministry or the Union Cabinet after a proposal from the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Census: A decennial exercise to systematically collect demographic, social, and economic data about a country's population.
• Open-Column Method: A data collection technique where respondents manually enter information in a blank field rather than selecting from a pre-defined list.
• Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC): A comprehensive survey conducted in 2011 to collect data on the socio-economic status and caste of households.
• Scheduled Castes (SC) / Scheduled Tribes (ST): Constitutionally recognized categories of historically disadvantaged groups in India, for whom enumeration has continued post-independence.