The government has decided not to include caste as one of the parameters in the 2011 census, a demand made by several regional parties. "Caste will not be included in the 2011 census," home secretary GK Pillai said.
Parties like PMK, RJD, JD(U) and a few others had demanded in the past inclusion of caste in the decennial census, especially the survey focusing on Other Backward Castes to buttress their demand for OBC reservation.
Besides, West Bengal's Left Front government is the lone state government to have made a representation to the Central government asking for a caste-based census.
Groups like OBC Employees' Welfare Association, Tamil Nadu, Most Backward Class Officers and Employees' Association, Patna, National Social Justice Forum (Haryana unit) and All India Other Backward Classes Employees in Indian Ordnance and Ordnance Equipment Factories Welfare Association, Tiruchirappalli had requested the home ministry for including caste as one of the parameters in 2011.
The office of the Registrar General of India that oversees the census exercise, comes under the home ministry.
Data on demographic and socio-economic parameters like age, sex, SC/ST status, literacy, religion, mother tongues/ languages known, economic activity status and migration are among the 15 parameters that would be collected as part of the 2011 Census.
Home ministry officials said there are "practical and logistical difficulties" in including caste in the Census exercise. "The idea of caste is not uniform across the country. Besides, how would an enumerator cross-check the claims of someone belonging to a particular caste," an official said.
The last caste-based Census was held in 1931, but there have been sporadic calls for one after the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report.
The PMK even had approached the Supreme Court last year with its demand. The apex court, however, turned down the plea saying it "could cause immense strife" and that "this is why it had not been done for the last 60 years".
