Friday, July 2, 2010

Do you think Caste census should be done? is it necessary?

-Open for discussion

8 comments:

  1. Casteism has been rooted in Indian history from colonial era. Even India has entered into globalised world.
    People in India are divided by castes and classes. People get their identity from their caste.
    Caste has been institutionalized by caste-based reservations in education and jobs. There is a mad rush to be recognized as a OBC/SC/ST etc.
    and the large portion of poverty belongs to these castes and government runs their social welfare programmes through castes.
    So do we need accurate data on castes to improve the condition of economy?
    1. If caste is taken into census 2022 it will provide accurate information about castes and their respective salary level so we
    can eliminate those people out of the net who are taking benefits from government-run welfare programmes despite of high salary level.
    This will lead to gauge our current reservation system success by removing the creamy layer.
    2. From a social science point of view, it will help in having a better picture about caste and resources and would provide better insight about population. Caste census will also make government run their social programmes more effectively and efficiently. and will reduce the poverty level in country.

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  2. Caste is a not only thriving but kicking also. It is a social reality which determines one's social status and the limits of the social relations and also opportunities for advancement in the life of an individual.

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  3. The 2011 Indian census is a caste-based one and first time after independence. Caste is the distinct feature of our society and it has great relevance in India.
    in India where still inter-caste, inter-regional as well as across the border marriages are encouraged (In haryana same gotra marriges issue is also caste issue)
    and even at present so called liberal and modern men opt for caste based marriages and our newspapers are filled with caste based matrimonial advertisements. India has a religious belief about casteism.
    If we go by Bhagavad Gita (chapter4, Sholka 13) Lord Krishna clarifies the origin and purpose of
    caste system to Arjuna and created four varnas named - Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. and they constitute the four fold order according to differentiation of gunna and karma.
    india has become a strong economy in this globalised world and making progress by leaps and bounds but this growth is not equitable as all sections of indian society
    are not making their contribution due to their social, educational and economic backwardness. And this backwardness is prevalent among many sections of society in India.
    Backwardness is also divided in terms of castes and classes and government formulates its social welfare programmes as per the data of caste and classes. But this data has got outdated. As we have old estimates like Kaka Kalelkar and Mandal Commission had evolved criterion for ascertaining the population of OBCs.
    (At the national level the population of OBCs has been accepted as 52 per cent of the total population of the country and reservation to the extent of 27 per cent has been made for them in Central government posts.
    This was the outcome of the implementation of Mandal Commission Report in 1990.)
    Caste based census seems to be relevent as it will figure out the appropriate number of people belonging to different castes.
    This will enable government formulate and implement its programmes effectively with efficieny. And thereby will uplifft
    the socially, educationaly and economicaly backward population. From equitable growth perspective it seems relevent.
    It has an objection as this census will also give impetus to caste division and its perpetuation.

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  4. As i was contemplating on this topic, so i reached at one point that caste census will not lead to divisions since caste system has existed for long. Government also give benefits to people on the basis of their castes so this census will fulfill the need to find out those people who need benefits from government-run social programs.
    Also caste system has been here for ages and Caste system has remained even where there was no enumeration.
    As everything has its own advantages and disadvantages if we think about advantages of caste census, it will really act as a source to uplift the backward sections and finally economy. This data will create differences in the society if used by wrong hands(Politicians). As we know politicians can go to any length to grab the votes...

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  5. Having read all the posts so far, it could be concluded that indeed caste based system is a very useful tool to ensure equitable growth. It’s been a rosy picture that has been portrayed so far. Now let’s get to reality rather than to Bhagavd Gita. We have been speaking of inclusive growth for quite some time in the recent past. Isn't it necessary to have a statistical data of the individual economic condition rather than knowing his/her caste? I am sure people would definitely agree with me on this one. It would be a better indication if we have a census that has a multidimensional approach and not just a simple caste based approach. Let's now get into the illustration given to support this caste based census- Tendulker committee. In his report, he has clearly mentioned that the very definition given by government of India for BPL is at flaw and the data available with the government is not reliable. With such kind of a feedback from experts like him won’t the commoner be in a dilemma about the reliability and reproducibility of the data? To avoid this, the people in-charge of the data collection should verify the collected data with the help of proof like community certificate.
    Moving on, politics being the inevitable part of Indian administration, politicians will obviously try to exploit the vote banks by appealing to their caste emotions. There would be fragmentation of vote banks and this in turn might result in political instability and hence the main root of democracy is shook. Also the sub-quota problems should not be overlooked. Lopsided distribution of quota might result in sub-quotas. 50% cap on quotas set by the Supreme Court will be breached by lobbyists by asking for sub-quotas.
    Finally moving on to the feasibility of conducting the caste based census. The ministry of home affairs which is over-seeing the current census program has mentioned of operational difficulties. In such a scenario what can be expected by the common man from the government which claims itself to be responsible to every citizen of this country. The finalized census data would definitely take much more time to be available for the parliamentary dignitaries involved in drafting and implementation of welfare schemes. Hence the final conclusion that can be drawn would be; despite the caste based census being a tool for ensuring target based welfare programs the practicality, penetration and reach of such welfare would definitely be questioned.

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  7. No matter what it is casteism is not to be encouraged......and still leads to further problems in d peace n can cause a havoc in a country like India.Our country is just rising up and blooming its way through international goals. Casteism can just be one of a trouble to this

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