May 1, 2025 - In a landmark decision, the Central Government has approved the inclusion of caste-based enumeration in the upcoming national census. The decision was cleared during a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs yesterday, April 30. The census and caste enumeration work is expected to begin from September.

The move has triggered a fresh wave of political activity, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah describing it as a “historic step”. Meanwhile, the Congress and other opposition parties hailed the decision as a vindication of their long-standing demand for caste-based data collection.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while briefing the media, said the caste census will be conducted alongside the general population census. He reiterated the government’s commitment to the welfare of all sections of society, adding that similar policy initiatives - such as the 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) - had been implemented in the past it did not create unrest among any part of society.

He emphasised that the Central Government is committed to conducting caste enumeration at the national level with complete transparency and fairness.

According to Minister Vaishnaw, although several States have, in the past, conducted caste surveys, in some places the process was smooth, while in others it lacked transparency owing to political interference, causing confusion in society. To prevent the social fabric from being influenced by political pressure, the government has decided to integrate caste enumeration into the primary census itself.

Entry 69 in the Union List specifically assigns “Census” to the Central Government, meaning only Parliament has the authority to legislate and carry out a nationwide census.

Meanwhile, the Congress has raised the question of a “deadline” for completing this task remarking that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the "master of giving a headline without a deadline". The party has demanded there should be a Constitutional Amendment and that the 50 per cent cap on reservations be removed.

The last complete and official caste census was conducted in 1931 under British rule. The next census was originally scheduled to begin in April 2020 but had to be postponed owing to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.