New Delhi: How will the government verify the caste declared by a person during the Census 2027? Can caste information simply be recorded by self-declaration, or should an existing caste certificate be checked before that information enters a dataset capable of shaping significant government policies and decisions?
Seeking answers to these questions, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court praying the Union of India and Census authorities be directed to devise a verification framework for caste enumeration (collection of caste information/data) under Census 2027.
The petition points out that the caste enumeration process does not specify if any existing government-issued caste certificate is to be recorded, nor does it lay down any mechanism for checking the authenticity of people’s claim about a caste.
Among the reliefs sought is directing authorities to prepare a mechanism under which particulars of available government-issued caste certificates can be recorded and their authenticity checked with competent issuing authorities.
The petition seeks a transparent mechanism for recording and verifying caste information so that the data collected through an exercise with significant consequences for public policy is accurate and reliable.
The petition further seeks safeguards against relying solely on the caste data for reservation policies or caste-based welfare allocation until a transparent mechanism to verify available government-issued caste certificates is implemented. The plea does not seek to impede the census or caste enumeration.
The SC heard the matter on Monday, with CJI Surya Kant examining the concern and asking Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to come back with the government’s response within two weeks.
The bench, also comprising justices Joymala Bagchi and V Mohana, did not issue a formal notice at this stage, but asked the petitioner to hand over a copy of the petition to the Solicitor General. The court sought clarity on the procedure followed for collecting and verifying caste information, and asked the Solicitor General to place a note before it.
Appearing for petitioner Akash Goel, Senior Advocate Mukta Gupta placed the central concern before the bench. Caste information, she argued, cannot be allowed to become a matter of unchecked self-declaration when the resulting data could feed into important policy decisions.
The issue, however, predates Monday’s hearing.
Goel had earlier approached the Supreme Court over the issue, following which the Court on 2 February, directed the authorities to consider the concerns raised in his representation.
He has now returned to the court with the present petition, contending that while the court’s response to the first petition only talked about the general consultation process for finalising the census questionnaire, it did not consider his specific proposal concerning verification of caste information.
On 14 August, the government notified the questions for Census 2027 under Section 8(1) of the Census Act, 1948. Here, Item 10 seeks information on a person’s caste status, including if they belonged to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST).
The petitioner’s concern is that while caste information will be collected, the notification does not explain how details of an available government-issued caste certificate will be recorded or how its authenticity will be checked.
The petitioner points out that the same schedule seeks document numbers for Aadhaar, voter ID and passports, but does not provide a similar mechanism for recording and verifying available caste-certificate particulars.
The petitioner stresses that accuracy in caste data is crucial because census figures may shape important government decisions. When read with information on education, employment and socio-economic conditions, caste data can help governments identify disparities, formulate welfare schemes, allocate public resources and review reservation and affirmative-action policies, the plea says.
Inaccurate data, it argues, could, therefore, present a distorted picture of communities and lead to resources and welfare measures not reaching the people that need them the most.
The petitioner says he does not seek to suggest that every self-declaration is false, but seeks adequate safeguards to ensure that the caste information collected is accurate, reliable and capable of verification.
The petitioner also proposes that where a person does not have or does not produce a caste certificate, the entry should be marked as “No Certificate” or, where an application is pending, the certificate application number should be recorded. This would distinguish such entries from those that can be verified through an available government-issued certificate.
Ultimately, the petition sought to ensure that caste data collected during Census 2027 is backed by adequate safeguards and is accurate and reliable before it is relied upon for consequential policy decisions.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also read: How the 1881 census fixed India’s social map and identity lines forever