OBC Census Data at Risk? Congress Flags Gaps in Question 10

The Congress on Monday accused the Modi government of deliberately excluding OBCs from the caste census, alleging that the methodology could make it difficult to generate reliable data on the community and undermine social-justice policies.

Anil Jaihind, chairman of the Congress OBC department, questioned the 40-question questionnaire notified on August 14 for the Population Enumeration phase of Census 2027. He pointed to Question 10, which asks respondents to provide their “Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Caste” status. The question does not separately ask whether a respondent belongs to the OBC category.

Jaihind argued that an open-ended caste field could result in cluttered and difficult-to-use data, particularly because caste names can have multiple spellings and identities can vary across regions. He demanded a caste census on the lines of the Telangana model, saying OBCs would oppose the current format.

Caste identification presents a methodological challenge because India has thousands of caste and community identities, with differences in names, spellings and regional classifications. The difficulty is greater for OBCs because OBC status is not identical to caste identity and the Central and state OBC lists do not always match.

The government’s position is that caste will nevertheless be enumerated in the second phase, with information recorded based on self-declaration. Officials have said a separate OBC classification was not incorporated because Central and state OBC lists differ and can change during the census period. They said digital systems and AI-based tools can subsequently help aggregate and standardise caste responses.

The Centre has also maintained that the census questionnaire is finalised through an established process and that caste enumeration will form part of the Population Enumeration phase. Congress leader Subhashini Sharad Yadav said caste enumeration must account for regional variations in caste identities and their social manifestations, arguing that accurate identification is essential for meaningful demographic data.

The dispute has renewed the political debate over whether Census 2027 can produce sufficiently reliable caste data for welfare, representation and affirmative-action policies.