TNCC plans Statewide campaign demanding change in format to choose OBC caste name
The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee is launching a campaign to demand a drop-down menu for caste selection in the upcoming census. They argue that the current open-ended format is prone to errors and could threaten existing reservation benefits.
Why it matters
The methodology of caste-based data collection is highly sensitive in India, as it directly impacts the implementation of affirmative action and reservation policies.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee is planning to launch a campaign on September 17, urging the Union Government to replace the present open-ended question on caste name in the caste-based census with a drop down facility with existing list of castes among Other Backward Classes.
TNCC president B. Manickam Tagore told journalists in Virudhunagar on Tuesday (September 15) that the open-ended format was a “deceitful ploy” of the Modi-led government aimed at denying the rightful benefits to the OBCs. “The BJP government does not have the intent to give the benefits of reservation to the OBCs,” he claimed.
Under the open-ended question seeking the name of caste to which the people belong to, wrong entries could be made depending on the level of understanding of enumerators. In a massive exercise involving 34 lakh enumerators, reducing the scale of mistakes in making entry of caste names amounted to day-dreaming, he said.
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