Thursday, August 12, 2010

The Indian government has approved the inclusion of information on caste in the ongoing population census.

The controversial decision was taken by a group of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The enumeration of caste in India has evoked a divided response, even as the pressure of other backward class (OBC) groups forced the ministerial panel’s nod. The last caste census was carried out in India in 1931.
Janata Dal-United (JD-U) member Sharad Yadav also joined the protests, urging Speaker Meira Kumar to allow the protesting members to speak over the matter and ask the government to explain its position. 
We've drawn attention to the Indian census before, focusing mainly on the technological challenges India faces in attempting to create a comprehensive multi-modal biometric register of its adult population.
As these three articles indicate, the challenges aren't limited to the technological realm. The social challenges associated with the effort are gargantuan as well.