Caste Census Row: Kharge, Rahul Gandhi Write To PM Modi, Demand Scrapping Of 'Misleading' Questionnaire
· Free Press Journal
Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing the methodology proposed for caste enumeration in the upcoming Census.
In their joint letter, the Congress leaders described the government’s open-ended format for recording caste details as “misleading” and warned that it could result in fragmented and unreliable data.
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Congress Questions Open-Ended Caste Recording
Under the proposed methodology, enumerators would record the caste name exactly as provided by respondents, without a prescribed list or standardised options. The Congress leaders argued that the approach could create serious inconsistencies because the same caste may be known by different names, spellings, sub-castes or regional variations across the country.
According to media reports, the Congress has argued that such variations could result in the same community being recorded under multiple entries, making the final data difficult to consolidate and analyse.
OBC Enumeration At Centre Of Concern
The Congress has raised particular concerns over the impact of the methodology on the enumeration of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), most backward communities and other socially disadvantaged groups.
The leaders reportedly pointed out that the questionnaire does not explicitly include the term “Backward Class”, raising concerns over how the overall OBC population would be accurately identified and counted.
‘Unusable Data’ Could Affect Welfare Policies
Kharge and Gandhi argued that inaccurate caste figures could have wider implications for government policy, including education, employment, welfare schemes and social justice programmes.
The Congress leaders also drew a comparison with difficulties associated with the 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census, where variations in caste names and classifications reportedly complicated the process of consolidating the data.
Kharge, Rahul Demand Fresh Questionnaire
The Congress leaders have called for the existing questionnaire to be scrapped and replaced with a fresh format prepared after consultations with political parties, experts and the public.
They have proposed creating a verified drop-down list of castes based on existing government lists, including those relating to Socially and Educationally Backward Classes, along with inputs from institutions such as the Anthropological Survey of India.
BMC Seat At Risk: Former Mayor Vishakha Raut’s OBC Certificate Cancelled, Fourth Corporator Disqualified Over Caste ValidityThe Congress has also pointed to caste surveys conducted in Bihar and Telangana as possible models for standardised enumeration, according to Deccan Herald.
Jairam Ramesh Calls Exercise ‘Whitewash’
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also criticised the government’s approach, describing the current exercise as a “whitewash” while briefing the media on the issue, The Hindu reported.
The latest intervention comes amid an ongoing political debate over the collection and use of caste data, with the Congress maintaining that the enumeration must produce standardised, verifiable and policy-relevant figures.