Caste consolidation

India needs politics of economic development

In the run-up to several crucial state Assembly elections this year, leading to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, Opposition parties seem to have found some common ground to counter the might of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding the release of Socio-Economic and Caste Census data, which was conducted in 2011 and covered about 250 million households. The data, however, was not released. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also demanded that the data be released and argued that the 50 per cent limit on caste-based reservations be removed. While such demands are not new, the timing clearly suggests that the idea is to make the social justice project an election issue. While it remains to be seen if it works electorally, increasing focus on caste politics is not exactly what India needs at this stage.

To be sure, the idea of a caste-based Census, potentially leading to higher reservations and changes in government spending, has significant support among regional parties. In fact, a caste-based Census is being conducted in Bihar. There were demands that the decadal Census, which was postponed in 2021 because of the pandemic, collected caste-based information. It was argued that the last such Census was conducted in 1931 when India was under colonial rule and there is a need to review the position for better delivery of social justice. Affirmative action in terms of providing reservations in government jobs and educational institutions in India has been on the basis of caste. Since the 2021 Census was postponed and news reports suggest it may not happen before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it could become a leading election issue.

While the government informed Parliament in 2021 that, as a matter of policy, it had decided not to enumerate caste-wise population other than that of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which is done routinely. However, politically, it’s not yet clear whether the BJP will be willing to concede if the issue actually becomes dominant in polls. It has so far worked successfully by capitalising on religious identity above caste and may not want to yield political space. Thus, it is possible that political discourse would see a deepening of caste and religious fault lines. In fact, a caste-based Census itself would be enough to significantly deepen the social divide. The Other Backward Classes, or OBCs, category, which is the main focus, is not a homogenous group. There are a number of sub-castes and different castes are categorised differently in different states. Besides, there are demands from several dominant castes in multiple states for reservations under this category. Revisiting reservations could thus lead to demands that would be difficult for the Indian state to fulfil.

It is thus critical that Indian political discourse rises above caste and religious divides and focuses on economic development. It is nobody’s case that the poor and marginalised should not be given a fair chance. But just extending reservations will not help. What India needs is a large number of quality jobs and educational institutions at all levels. The inability of the Indian state to provide these has been one of the fundamental reasons driving the ever-increasing demand for reservations. It might help political parties in the short run, but will certainly not solve the underlying problems.