The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation challenging the central government's decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming Census, stating there was 'nothing wrong with it.'
Bench observations
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul Pancholi heard the PIL, which argued that sufficient caste-related data already exists with the government. The court, however, rejected this contention.
'The government must know how many people are backward class, what kind of welfare measures are to be taken for them,' the Chief Justice remarked, as reported by PTI. 'These are all policy matters, whether the Census should be caste-based or not. What is wrong with it? … It is within the policy domain.'
Significance of the 2027 Census
The 2027 Census, officially India's 16th national Census, will mark the first comprehensive caste enumeration since 1931. It will also be the country's first fully digital population count, leveraging technology for data collection and analysis.
This decision underscores the government's intent to gather detailed demographic data to formulate targeted welfare policies for backward classes and other communities.
