New Delhi, May 2 -- The government's decision to include caste enumeration in India's population census is welcome. As the basis of a social hierarchy that inhibits mobility in Indian society, caste is inimical to the notion of equality that's a core characteristic of democracy.

The dynamism of our economy has weakened links between castes and occupations, with favourable socio-economic outcomes, especially for groups with a long record of deprivation. Our policy of affirmative action, with jobs and educational seats reserved for candidates from "socially and economically backward classes," in the Constitution's words, has helped many of the underprivileged move ahead in life.

However, the extent to which caste has lost its power to hol...