India to ask caste status in next census for first time in decades

NEW DELHI: India will conduct its first official caste census since independence, the government announced on Wednesday, a move likely to have far-reaching consequences for its politics and contentious affirmative action policies.

Caste remains a crucial determinant of one´s station in life in India, with higher castes the beneficiaries of ingrained cultural privileges and lower castes suffering entrenched discrimination -- and a rigid divide between both.

More than two-thirds of India´s 1.4 billion people are estimated to be on the lower rungs of a millennia-old social hierarchy that divides Hindus by function and social standing. The decision to include detailed caste data as part of the next census -- originally due in 2021 but yet to take place -- was approved by a government meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs has decided today that caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census,” government spokesman Ashwini Vaishnav told reporters.

“This demonstrates that a government is committed to the values and interests of a society and country.”

No date has been announced for the next census. Amit Shah, India´s interior minister, called the move “historic”.