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

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CategoryPolity

Last Updated21/01/2024

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

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.

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 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.