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Caste Survey in Bihar: A New Beginning?
The socio-economic data along with caste figures may lead to revisiting material questions underlying caste–class inequality.
Awanish Kumar writes:
In his Untouchables or the Children of India’s Ghetto and other writings, B R Ambedkar highlighted the historic significance of the 1911 Census of India. It was for the first time that the “depressed classes” were identified and counted separately from the Hindu population. Caste numbers, especially the population share of “depressed classes” derived from 1911 and consequently 1921 Censuses, were a major point of debate during the Lothian Committee and Round Table Conferences. According to Marc Galanter, this separate enumeration changed the entire discourse around the “depressed classes” and their political significance in the national movement. Would the release of the caste survey report in Bihar have the same consequence in national politics almost more than a century later?
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