No proposal yet to release 2011 caste census data: Govt

Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityananda Rai also told the Upper House that the government has decided to conduct Census 2021 under the Census Act, 1948 in two phases.

New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday informed Rajya Sabha that it has no proposal at present to release the report of caste census that was carried out in 2011.

"As informed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), there is no proposal to release the caste data at this stage. The Census Schedules are designed in consultation with various stakeholders. In the Census, the castes and tribes which 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," Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said.

"The Union of India after independence decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste wise population other than SCs and STs," Rai added.

In reply to a question by CPI leader Binoy Viswam and RJD leader Manoj Jha that whether the government is planning the caste data of Census 2011, Rai said that 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.

"The SECC 2011 data excluding the caste data have been finalized and published by MoRD and HUPA. The Office of the Registrar General, India had provided logistics and technical support in conducting the SECC-2011. The raw data has been provided to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) for classification and categorization of the data," he added.

MoS Home Affairs also informed the upper house that the government has decided to conduct Census 2021 under the Census Act, 1948 in two phases.

It was also decided to update the National Population Register (NPR) under the Citizenship Act, 1955 along with the first phase of Census, added Rai.