Examine the significance of including caste enumeration in Census 2027 for welfare policy and social justice.

Q. Examine the significance of including caste enumeration in Census 2027 for welfare policy and social justice. (15 marks, 250 words)

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs decided on 30 April 2025 to include caste enumeration in Census 2027, to be captured electronically in the Population Enumeration phase (February 2027) [1][2]. This is the first comprehensive caste count since 1931, closing a nine-decade data vacuum that has shaped India's welfare architecture.

Significance for welfare policy - Evidence-based targeting: reliable caste-wise data lets schemes and budgetary allocation reach the most deprived groups, replacing 1931-era estimates that distort planning [3]. - Rationalising reservation: granular data can inform sub-categorisation of OBCs (Rohini Commission mandate) and calibrate benefits within backward classes. - Better outcome tracking: enables disaggregated indicators on education, employment and assets, sharpening scheme evaluation. - Digital integrity: mobile-app capture with confidentiality under the Census Act, 1948 aims to improve data accuracy and public trust [4].

Significance for social justice - Makes the invisible visible, giving numerical recognition to marginalised communities and strengthening the constitutional promise of equality (Articles 15, 16, 46). - Provides an empirical basis to test the Supreme Court's 50% reservation ceiling debate with facts rather than assumptions. - Advances distributive justice by grounding affirmative action in current realities.

Concerns: risk of hardening caste identities, politicisation, and privacy in digital capture — hence integration into the main Census, not a separate survey, to insulate it from pressure [1].

Handled with methodological rigour and confidentiality safeguards, caste enumeration can transform welfare from perception-driven to data-driven, realising the vision of substantive social justice and inclusive development aligned with SDG-10 (reduced inequalities).

(~250 words)

Sources: 1. Cabinet approves Caste enumeration in the upcoming Census (PIB, 2025) — CCPA decision of 30 April 2025; inclusion in main census to avoid political pressure 2. Population Census-2027 to be conducted in two phases along with enumeration of castes (PIB) — caste data captured electronically in Population Enumeration (Phase II) 3. Cabinet approves scheme of Conduct of Census of India 2027 (PIB) — ₹11,718.24 crore outlay; two-phase, statistical basis for planning 4. Self-Enumeration Begins in Tamil Nadu and Tripura under Phase 1 of Census 2027 (PIB) — first digital census; confidentiality under Census Act, 1948