India, May 1 -- The National Democratic Alliance government (NDA) has decided to include caste enumeration in the upcoming national census. The census with caste detail was a colonial invention that is now being reinvented by the post-colonial governance system and given a new meaning and context. The census with caste enumeration -- popularly called caste census -- has both symbolic and substantial values. As a symbolic act, it may sharpen caste-based identity assertion in both politics and policymaking. However, it will also generate rich data and details that can help in framing policies for the equal and equitable distribution of material and political resources in society.

The caste census is also likely to reshape people's prioriti...