No proposal to release caste census data: Govt in RS

The government has no proposal at present to release the report of the caste census carried out in 2011, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011, was conducted by the ministry of rural development (MoRD) and the then ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation (HUPA) in rural and urban areas respectively.

Rai said the SECC 2011 data, excluding the caste data, had been finalised and published by the MoRD and the HUPA. The Office of the Registrar General had provided logistics and technical support in conducting the SECC-2011.

"The raw caste data has been provided to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) for classification and categorisation of the data. As informed by MoSJE, there is no proposal to release the caste data at this stage," he said in written reply to a question.

The minister added that the intent of the government for conducting Census 2021 had been notified in the Gazette of India on March 28, 2019. The census schedule is designed in consultation with various stakeholders.

In census, the castes and tribes that are specifically notified as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as per the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, are enumerated.

After independence, India decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population other than SCs and STs, Rai said.