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