The Caste Census: A Paradigm Shift

In a significant policy turnaround in April 2025, the Union Government moved away from its previous stance—which once derided the exercise as "Urban Naxal" thinking—to authorize a caste enumeration for the 2027 Census.

• The Paradox: The Supreme Court dismissed pleas to stall the census, with the CJI noting that the state must identify backwardness to effectively target welfare. This highlights the foundational paradox: the constitutional goal of a "casteless society" versus the administrative necessity of "positive discrimination."
• Data Integrity: Unlike the 2011 SECC, which produced 46 lakh distinct caste names and 8 crore errors, the 2027 exercise seeks a standardized methodology to avoid rendering the dataset unusable.