New Delhi, June 12 -- It appears that India's much delayed 2021 Population Census will likely take place in 2027 and that it will include caste enumeration. If this does happen and the results are released, we will see caste data at the national level for the first time after 1931. The demand for a caste census has been growing for years, especially from the Congress, several other members of the INDIA block and many states.

In fact, the 2011 Census had included an enumeration of castes, but the data was never released (for reasons discussed below). Bihar conducted a state-level caste survey in 2022. The governments of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, among others, have been vociferous in their support of this step. With the acquiescence of t...