OBC Bodies Demand 'Unique Code' for Each Caste in Census, Seek Pause Till Consensus

Several participants argued that the Census would lack scientific rigour unless each caste was tagged with its own code.

The Wire Staff

Several participants argued that the Census would lack scientific rigour unless each caste was tagged with its own code.

obc bodies demand unique code for each caste in census seek pause till consensus

Enumerators collect information from residents during the first phase of Census 2027, at Ramji Chak, in Patna, Bihar, Saturday, May 2, 2026. Photo: PTI.

New Delhi: Leaders from various Other Backward Classes (OBC) organisations pressed the Union government to make caste enumeration compulsory in the nationawide Census and to give every caste a distinct "unique code" at a national conference on Sunday (August 30) in New Delhi.

They argued that skipping these steps would lead to wasting public funds, and called for the Census to be put on hold until political parties and stakeholders across the country arrive at a common understanding on the matter, The Hindu reported.

T. Chiranjeevulu, retired IAS officer who heads the Backwards Classes Intellectual Forum, and G. Kiran Kumar, president of the All India OBC Students Association, presided over the conference.

Several participants argued that the Census would lack scientific rigour unless each caste was tagged with its own code. "Just as separate columns are provided for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, separate columns should also be created for OBCs and the General Category," a number of speakers said, as per the report.

Also read: NPR in Disguise, Sabotaging Caste Count by Design? Why Census 2027 Has Raised Questions

At the conference, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Rajya Sabha member P. Wilson and former psephologist and political activist Yogendra Yadav flagged concerns that the roughly Rs 12,800 crore earmarked by the Union for the Census exercise could go to waste if it is carried out as a mere formality, without adequate scientific planning.

Further, the speakers underlined that they may initiate a nationwide agitation if the government ignored their demands.

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India through the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) have notified a set of 40 questions that would be asked during the Population Enumeration phase of the Census.

The Wire has reported earlier that question number ten which reads Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Caste, has become a flashpoint as it does not include a drop-down menu of caste names already available with the state, but instead provides for the enumerator to put down their caste names-opening the door to a vast plethora of caste names, like in the 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census that had a similar self enumeration and which threw up over 46 lakh entries.

Opposition parties including the Congress have also raised objections separately to the use of an open-ended format for capturing caste data, pointing out that identical castes are often referred to by different names, sub-castes, or regional and linguistic variations across states.

This article went live on August thirty-first, two thousand twenty six, at five minutes past six in the evening.

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