Caste census is a bad idea, will strike at the roots of India’s development

In the age of artificial intelligence (AI) caste census seems utterly ridiculous. It flies in the face of the very aim of reservation in education as well as in employment.
Those hiding behind lofty justifications like caste census is a tool that promises to transform nature of policy-making policies by providing accurate data on India’s diverse social groups, should acknowledge and implement economic criteria in policies and reservations.
Having numbers and identifying the true extent of social disparities will only divide Indian society in unimaginable extent. It is a can of worms and best left in deep freeze. It is imperative that nation’s limited resources should be allocated only on the basis of income and economic norms.
After over 7 decades of independence and economic progress, India has to change its outlook towards caste and community, which only benefits political class. Provide free or affordable education and means of education to every section of society to encourage merit as well as excellence. This only can take India towards progress.
Dividing a billion plus people of India will be catastrophic which we the people only will have to carry the burden of fragmented India.
We should be aware that the Indian Constitution does not explicitly define ‘census’. The Constitution, when it was framed, it provided a framework that supports the collection of data for economic and social planning. Caste is a dark reality of India but the Constitution seeks economic and social upliftment, and never or no explicit caste-based reservations that leads to caste propagation as well as gross misuse by the politicians.
The Constitution makers sought India to be an equitable and inclusive society. But caste census is definitely not the tool that they would have approved to build a better India.
State governments are rushing to dish out their own caste census. However, conducting a comprehensive caste census needs various administrative capabilities like adequate training of enumerators, solid infrastructure, and the necessary technology to ensure data integrity while eliminating grave mistakes. These measures should be given publicity in public domain to stop manipulation and misuse by the political and social groups.
However, counting economically weaker sections is a far superior method than any other way. Selecting a caste or a community for special treatment is a lazy way of social development. Caste census will severely undermine efforts of community leaders in bringing broader social integration, bias against reservations and corroding a sense of collective identity as Indians under the law.