Caste Data To Be Part Of Next Population Census: Centre's Big Announcement

Questions on caste - i.e., an enumeration of the various castes and sub-castes, and the number of people in each, across the country - will be part of the next census, which is expected to be held next year, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said during a cabinet briefing Wednesday afternoon. The government's big decision - a demand raised frequently and vociferously by the opposition over the past few years - comes months before a critical Assembly election in Bihar. That is significant because in October 2023 it was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's government - when he was still allied with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress - that pushed through a caste survey.