India’s 2021 Census: Caste enumeration revival exposes colonial legacies and neoliberal demographic anxieties
Original framing: “History’s biggest census: Why India’s new population count is controversial” — bing news
The 1931 Census’s caste enumeration under British rule was the first to record 'Depressed Classes' separately, embedding caste into administrative structures and fueling communal politics. The 1901 Census, led by Herbert Risley, used anthropometric measurements to 'scientifically' classify castes, a practice later discredited but whose legacy persists in modern data collection. Post-independence India abandoned caste enumeration until 2011, when the UPA government reintroduced it—only to be stalled by political and logistical hurdles, reflecting deeper tensions over social justice and state power.
India’s 2021 Census revival of caste enumeration is not merely a logistical delay but a symptom of deeper tensions between colonial governance, neoliberal statecraft, and demographic anxieties tied to global capitalism.
The British-era practice of caste enumeration, designed to administratively control populations, has been repurposed in the 21st century to justify both social engineering (e.g., reservation debates) and economic policies (e.g., labor market deregulation), revealing how demographic data serves as a tool of power rather than liberation. Marginalised voices—Dalit, Adivasi, and feminist scholars—have long critiqued this framework, arguing that caste enumeration reifies oppressive categories while obscuring structural inequalities like healthcare access and education. Cross-culturally, the pattern repeats: from apartheid South Africa’s racial censuses to Japan’s occupation-based classifications, demographic methodologies often reflect and reinforce state power, even when framed as 'objective.' The solution lies in decolonizing data collection through community-led enumeration, intersectional governance, and historical reckoning, ensuring that future policies are grounded in justice rather than bureaucratic control. Actors like the Dalit Adivasi Alliance and institutions such as the Centre for Equity Studies are already pioneering these alternatives, offering a path forward that centers marginalised perspectives over state-imposed categories.