Caste Census: This caste has largest population in India, not Brahmins, Dalits, SCs, the name is…; know key facts about caste-based census

Caste Census: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government has announced to carry out a caste-based census across the country, meeting a long-standing demand of the opposition INDIA bloc led by the Congress, which is hailing the announcement as a major victory. Opposition parties, especially the Congress and its INDIA bloc ally, the Samajwadi Party (SP), have been rallying for a caste census for a very long time, and now Centre has announced that the same will be conducted countrywide.

According to reports, caste census is likely begin in the coming months, and is likely to be completed by mid 2026. Interestingly, there is already some data about the population of different castes in India.

Let us find out which caste has the largest population in the country:

Caste with largest population

Based on the 2011 general census, there are as many as 46 lakh different castes in India, and contrary to popular belief, the Dalits or Scheduled Castes (SCs) are not the largest caste in India. According to the 1931 census, the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are have a 52 percent share in the country’s population, making them the largest caste-based group in India.

This was also taken as the baseline when the Mandal Commission recommendations were implemented by the V.P. Singh government in 1990.

However, it must be noted that the figures are based on data which is nearly a century old, and the current census could reveal a vastly different set of figures.

What is caste census and who benefits?

As the name suggests, caste census is a caste-based survey of the country’s population aimed to determine the exact number of people of each caste living in India as accurately as humanly possible. Although caste census has been conducted in India earlier, but the OBCs were not included in the survey at the time, which will not be the case in coming caste-based census.

Caste census proponents assert that it will clarify the social, educational, political and economic standing and participation of various castes, and help build an equitable society based on the principle of ‘jitni aabadi utna haq (larger the population, greater the right)’. On the other hand, critics of caste-based survey claim it is a ploy to divide the Indian society, particularly the Hindu majority, into caste-based sub-groups for vote-bank politics.

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