Caste Census: Can the data be kept safe?

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries and President of Lok Janashakti Party, Chirag Paswan, an ally of the BJP has supported a nationwide caste census proposed by Rahul Gandhi.

It is public knowledge that Rahul Gandhi has declared that the UPA would conduct a nationwide caste census if it comes to power. The BJP has so far remained non-committal on this issue, and its silence is largely being interpreted as disapproval of the ‘idea’.

Against this backdrop, Chirag Paswan in an interview given to a leading digital portal said he supported the idea of a caste census. However, he was against making the findings of the survey public.

“I am against casteism. However, there needs to be data for allotting funds for community-based development programmes or schemes. But the data should not be made public as it might create further divisions in society,” said the MP from Bihar.

Interestingly, the JDU led-by Nitish Kumar, a key ally of the BJP has also endorsed the idea. While Paswan is the son of late Ram Vilas Paswan, who had served as Union Minister and is a Dalit, Nitish Kumar is a BC.

While Chirag Paswan’s suggestion to conduct the survey but keep the findings confidential is definitely noteworthy, the big question is whether the security of the data can be guaranteed. If the findings of the data are leaked, it could create an explosive situation across the nation with politicians and caste-groups looking to exploit it to the full. That is the last thing the nation needs at this juncture!

- A Sridhar