Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has renewed his call for a caste census in India, emphasizing the need to understand the socio-economic position and institutional representation of marginalized communities. During an interaction with students and faculty at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, Gandhi stressed that reservations would only be reconsidered when India achieves fairness in representation.
Rahul Gandhi on India’s Representation Crisis
Speaking at the event, Gandhi stated, “The elephant in the room is that 90 per cent of India — OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis — don’t play 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, backward castes, and Dalits are integrated into the system…Out of the top 200 businesses in India, there is almost no ownership of 90 per cent of the population of India. In the highest courts of the country, there is almost no participation of 90 per cent of India. In media, there is zero participation of lower castes, OBCs, Dalits,” Gandhi explained.
Gandhi underscored that the underrepresentation of marginalized communities is a pressing issue that affects the fairness 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 the Caste Census: Institutional and Socio-Economic Insights
The Congress MP outlined the three key components of the caste census: an institutional survey, a socio-economic survey, and a detailed census. He explained, “Caste Census is a simple way of saying: we got independence in 1947, let’s see how the lower castes, backward castes, and Dalits have integrated into the system. What is their actual participation? … A socio-economic survey is to understand the socio-economic position of these castes and the poor…We also want to understand and examine India’s institutions — media, healthcare, education — the ownership, the structure that delivers these services, and India’s participation in these institutions.”
Gandhi highlighted the need to scrutinize India’s institutional structures to ensure that all communities have meaningful representation, arguing that without such data, any claims of equity remain unverified.
Addressing Questions on Alternatives to Caste-Based Reservation
When asked by a student about alternatives to caste-based reservations, Gandhi presented stark data on caste representation in the Indian government. He noted, “Let’s look at the numbers… if you look at the Indian government… there are 78 bureaucrats who run the govt… secretaries to the GOI… they make financial decisions… if you add up Dalits, OBCs, and tribals they come to 73 per cent… Out of 78 people, there is one tribal…there are three Dalits, three OBCs, and a minority… 90 per cent of India has less than one per cent.”
Gandhi emphasized that discussions on scrapping reservations could only occur in a “fair” India, which, according to him, has not yet been achieved. “We will think of scrapping of reservations when India is a fair place and India is not a fair place… that way it is a problem… because there are many people who come from the upper castes who say look what have we done wrong… why are we being punished… and so then you think of increasing dramatically the supply of some of these things, you think of decentralisation of power, you think of involving many more in the governance,” Gandhi elaborated.
A Call for Justice: Caste Census as an Unstoppable Idea
Gandhi accused the current Indian government of failing to ensure adequate representation of marginalized communities in bureaucratic positions, which he sees as a significant flaw in the governance structure. Making a compelling case for the caste census, he argued that it is now an “unstoppable idea” that addresses the fundamental question of whether 90 per cent of India’s population is genuinely represented in its institutional framework.
“The caste census is now an unstoppable idea. The critical question of whether 90 per cent of our population is meaningfully represented in India’s institutional structure — economy, government, education — demands an answer. At its core, this is an issue of fairness and justice. Anything less than a comprehensive caste census along with an economic and institutional survey is unacceptable,” Gandhi concluded.
