Caste out

The socio-economic caste census (SECC-2011) that is currently underway is meant to assess the population that is actually below the poverty line (BPL) in the country. It is based on exclusion criteria under which households possessing specified assets are automatically excluded from the list. The crucial difference between past BPL censuses (as the SECC is also called) and the current one, apart from the methodology, is that caste is being analysed for the first time on a nationwide scale. All fair so far. But, as our correspondent experienced, the enumerator is not only unaware of such a clause he does not even ask questions related to castes. Told that this is an important clause in the census, the enumerator merely said he was unaware of it. If this is the state in a supposedly upscale locality in the national capital, it may be worth wondering about the quality of data being collected from small towns and cities.