“We will only consider this possibility when India becomes more just”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has renewed his call for a caste census in India, stressing the need to understand the socio-economic situation.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has renewed his call for a caste census in India, stressing the need to understand the socio-economic situation and institutional representation of marginalised communities. In an interaction with students and faculty at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, Gandhi stressed that reservations would be reconsidered only when India achieves equitable representation.

Rahul Gandhi on the Crisis of Representation in India

In his speech, Gandhi said, “The major problem is that 90 per cent of India – OBCs, Dalits and Adivasis – are not playing the game.” He argued that a caste census is essential to understand the integration of these communities into the system. “Caste census is a simple exercise to know how the lower castes, the backward castes and the Dalits are integrated into the system… In the top 200 corporations in India, 90 per cent of the Indian population is hardly any owner. In the highest courts of the country, 90 per cent of India is hardly any participant. In the media, there is no participation of the lower castes, OBCs, Dalits,” Gandhi said.

Gandhi stressed that under-representation of marginalised communities is a pressing issue that affects the equity of India’s socio-economic landscape. He stressed that a caste census would reveal the true state of participation in various sectors including business, governance and media.

Components of caste census: institutional and socio-economic perspectives

The Congress MP outlined the three key elements of the caste census: an institutional survey, a socio-economic survey and a detailed census. He explained: “The caste census is a simple way of saying: we got independence in 1947, let us see how the lower castes, the backward castes and the Dalits have integrated into the system. What is their actual participation? (…) A socio-economic survey aims to understand the socio-economic position of these castes and the poor (…) We also want to understand and look at the institutions of India – the media, health care, education – property, the structure that provides these services and India’s participation in these institutions.”

Gandhi stressed the need to review India’s institutional structures to ensure that all communities enjoy meaningful representation, saying that without such data, any claim of equity remains untested.

Answering questions about alternatives to caste-based reservation

Asked by a student about alternatives to caste-based reservations, Gandhi presented some striking data on caste representation in the Indian government. He noted: “Let’s look at the figures… if you look at the Indian government… there are 78 bureaucrats who run the government… secretaries of the GOI… they take financial decisions… if you add up Dalits, OBCs and tribals, it’s 73 per cent… Out of 78 people, there is one tribal… there are three Dalits, three OBCs and one minority… 90 per cent of India has less than one per cent.”

Gandhi stressed that discussions on removing reservations could only happen in a “just” India, which he said is not the case yet. “We will consider removing reservations when India is a just place and India is not… in that way, it is a problem… because many people who come from the upper castes say ‘look at what we have done wrong… why are we being punished…’ and then you think about dramatically increasing the supply of some of these things, you think about decentralisation of power, you think about involving more people in governance,” Gandhi explained.

A Call for Justice: Caste Census, an Unstoppable Idea

Gandhi accused the current Indian government of failing to ensure adequate representation of marginalised communities in bureaucratic positions, which he considered a major flaw in the governance structure. He made a strong case for caste census, saying it was now an “unstoppable idea” that answers the fundamental question of whether 90 per cent of India’s population is truly represented in its institutional framework.

“The caste census is now an unavoidable idea. The crucial question of whether 90 per cent of our population is meaningfully represented in the institutional structure of India – economy, government, education – demands an answer. At its core, it is a question of equity and justice. Anything short of a comprehensive caste census, accompanied by an economic and institutional survey, is unacceptable,” Gandhi concluded.