Kharge, Rahul Gandhi Urge PM Modi To Scrap Caste Census Questionnaire

Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that the government scrap the existing questionnaire for the caste census and prepare a new one after consulting political parties, experts and the public. The Congress leaders said the current format could produce inaccurate and fragmented caste data, undermining social justice policies.

Congress Objects To Open-Ended Caste Question

In their August 20 letter to Modi, Kharge and Gandhi said they did not accept the caste census being conducted in its current form.

They objected to the use of an open-ended format in which respondents can enter their caste name themselves. The leaders argued that the same caste may be known by different names, sub-castes and linguistic variations across India.

They warned that recording these variations separately could fragment a single caste into thousands of entries, making the resulting data unreliable.

The Congress leaders also said the current questionnaire does not include the term “Backward Class”, which they argued could prevent the census from accurately establishing the size of India's OBC population.

Demand For Drop-Down Caste List

Kharge and Gandhi proposed creating a standardised drop-down list of castes, similar to the method used for recording Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

They said the list could be prepared using existing government records, including lists of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes and data from the Anthropological Survey of India.

The Congress leaders pointed to the caste surveys conducted in Telangana in 2024 and Bihar in 2022 as examples of this approach. They enclosed copies of the caste lists used in both surveys with their letter to Modi.

Congress Calls Current Exercise A ‘Whitewash’

The leaders argued that accurate caste data was essential for framing policies on education, employment, welfare schemes and social justice.

“If the actual population of a community is not accurately recorded, any assessment of its status will also be flawed,” they said.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh described the government's current efforts as a “whitewash” while briefing reporters on the letter. He said it was the third letter from the Congress leadership to Modi on the issue and claimed the party had not received a response to its earlier communications.

Kharge and Gandhi urged the government to formulate a fresh questionnaire after consultations with political parties, experts and the general public, saying this was necessary to make the caste census accurate and meaningful.