Caste Census Data for a Just Republic

Abstract

India’s return to caste enumeration after a 94-year hiatus is not merely a statistical event but a watershed in the nation’s unfinished struggle for social justice. This paper interrogates the consequences of governing with century-old caste data, exposing how this “data desert” perpetuates the invisibility of OBCs, Denotified Tribes, Dalit sub-castes, and intersectional minorities. Drawing on the frameworks of data justice, intersectionality, and the political economy of enumeration, we analyze empirical evidence from the SECC 2011, Bihar’s 2023 caste survey, and state and central reports. The findings reveal systemic upper-caste overrepresentation, elite capture within OBC reservations, and the ongoing erasure of Denotified Tribes and Dalit women and trans persons. We argue that blanket quotas without granular sub-categorization have hollowed out the transformative promise of affirmative action. This is the empirical foundation—and the policy roadmap—to dismantle caste-based privilege and forge a truly just republic.Only by reckoning with its data deficit can India renew its constitutional contract and advance genuine social equity.