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Andhra becomes 2nd State to take up ‘caste census’

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Andhra becomes 2nd State to take up ‘caste census’

  • The Andhra Pradesh government kicked off its comprehensive caste census to enumerate all communities in the state.

Key Highlights

  • Andhra Pradesh becomes the second state after Bihar to take up the caste census.
  • The YSRCP government has set the caste census as a major goal and feels that the enumeration can transform the living standards of people.
  • As part of this exercise, the Andhra Pradesh government elicited opinions from caste representatives across the state.
  • Aiming to conduct the caste census in a fair and comprehensive manner, the southern state wants to project its enumeration exercise as a role model across the country.
  • Though the caste census was initially announced to cover only the 139 Backward Classes (BC) communities, its scope now includes all castes in Andhra Pradesh.

Census in India

  • The origin of the Census in India dates back to the colonial exercise of 1881.
  • Census is used by the government, policymakers, academics, and others to capture the Indian population, access resources, map social change, and conduct delimitation exercises.
  • However, it has been criticised as a blunt instrument unsuited for specialised inquiry.

SECC (Socio-Economic and Caste Census)

  • SECC was first conducted in 1931 which aimed to collect information on the economic status of Indian families, both in rural and urban areas, to identify indicators of deprivation.
  • It also collects data on specific caste names to evaluate the economic conditions of different caste groups.

Prelims Takeaway

  • SECC
  • Census

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