Bihar, Karnataka, Telangana: What Three Big Experiments On Caste Survey Tell Us

On 30 April, 2025, the Narendra Modi-led Union government announced that it would include a caste column in the upcoming census.

"Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has decided to include caste enumeration in the forthcoming census exercise," said Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

"It is well understood that Congress and its INDI alliance partners have used the caste census only as a political tool. Some states have conducted surveys to enumerate castes. While some states have done this well, others have conducted such surveys only from a political angle, in a non-transparent way," he added.

Though Vaishnaw used the word ‘Census’ for this exercise, the states he is believed to have referred to actually conducted caste 'surveys' — an enumerative and less formal process than the census itself.

Let us see what changed after caste surveys in these states.

Bihar

The caste survey conducted by Bihar is arguably the most talked-about one for two reasons. Firstly, it was conducted at a time when the entire nation was gearing up for the Pran Pratishtha of the Ram Mandir. A caste survey at such a crucial juncture had the potential to dampen Hindu unity.

Secondly, when the caste survey report was released in November 2023, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive (INDI) alliance. The caste survey was supposed to strengthen his position as the INDI alliance's contender for the prime ministerial post.

The survey was ordered when the Mahagathbandhan — comprising Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)], Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress — was in power, with Kumar as Chief Minister and Tejashwi Yadav as Deputy Chief Minister. For Congress and RJD, the caste survey was an opportunity to amplify their rhetoric on social justice, while for JD(U), it could serve as a tool to mitigate the growing anti-incumbency sentiment against Nitish Kumar.

The survey results were surprising for many. Contrary to the expected share of 20 per cent, the 'upper castes'' share stood at 15.52 per cent. Backward and Extremely Backward Classes cumulatively comprised 63.13 per cent of the population, while Scheduled Castes made up 19.65 per cent of the state's demography.

Interestingly, the survey results also subtly endorsed the idea of giving representation to Muslims based on their caste by categorising various Muslim communities under different caste umbrellas.

The survey also collected data on land ownership, education, annual income, and other aspects. Barring a few intra-category exceptions, the data validated theoretical assumptions of backwardness within the framework of social justice.

Accurate data available down to the village level tends to aid governments in targeted delivery of schemes and in the formulation of new policies if needed. After the results were released, murmurs of strengthening and correcting the faults in older schemes began circulating across broadcast networks.

However, the government came up with only two major announcements.

The first was increasing the reservation limits. The state passed the 'Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Amendment Act, 2023' and the 'Bihar (in Admission in Educational Institutions) Reservation Amendment Act, 2023', to increase the reservation to 65 per cent — 15 per cent more than the limit prescribed by the Supreme Court.

These acts were challenged in the Patna High Court, which ruled the changes unconstitutional — a stance with which the Supreme Court also prima facie agreed with.

The second was providing Rs 2 lakh to each of the 94 lakh families living below the poverty line in the state. The sum was to be distributed over five years, implying an average of Rs 37,600 crore would be spent annually. Spending such an amount in a state whose annual capital outlay is less than Rs 50,000 crore was always going to be a challenge.

There has been no public update regarding the implementation of this scheme, and even the opposition — now comprising the RJD, Congress, Left parties and others — has not shown much interest in pursuing it.

The survey has not provided much impetus to policymaking so far, but it is gradually changing the political realities on the ground. For instance, while earlier rallies were mainly organised for broader groups — such as OBCs, SCs, and Baniyas — new subdivisions within these larger categories have begun organising smaller conclaves.

Among the OBCs, for example, Yadavs, Koeris, Kurmis, and Vaishyas now pursue their own specific agendas.

These castes are primarily those who have historically wielded political power. At present, only the Mallahs and the Tanti Tatwa community have not yet seen active sub-divisional mobilisation. Both communities have a common demand: to be accommodated within the SC reservation category.

On a broader level, all parties are leveraging the caste census for their own advantage. When Congress wants to pressure the RJD for more seats, Rahul Gandhi himself appears in the media and labels the caste survey — conducted while his party was in power — as dubious. Similarly, JD(U) and RJD vie for credit for the survey.

Amidst all this, the BJP had continued to oppose the caste census at the national level, while its state unit supports it in Bihar.

Karnataka

The Karnataka caste survey has been the most awaited one after the 2011 census by the Indian government. Termed as Socio-Economic and Education Survey, it was sanctioned in 2015 during Siddaramaiah’s first term as Chief Minister. However, it took 10 years to submit the report and a few more months to release it.

Initially, Congress had failed to build an intra-party consensus, possibly due to contentious enumerations of dominant Vokkaliggas and Lingayat communities. The fears around underreporting or underestimation of both communities have been rampant. Both communities combined were believed to be 33 per cent of the state’s total population before the release of the report.

However, the report revealed that they are less than 26 per cent of the state population, with Vokkaligas at 12.2 per cent, and Veerashaiva-Lingayats at 13.6 per cent. The OBCs constitute 69.6 per cent of the state’s population, while SCs and STs have been pegged at 18.27 and 7.15 per cent respectively.

The survey also detailed socio-economic indicators like education, income, and land ownership. In line with national trends, OBCs and SC/STs lag behind dominant castes on these parameters.

The survey has recommended raising OBC reservations to 51 per cent from the existing limit of 32 per cent. With SCs, STs and EWS already receiving 24 and 10 per cent reservations, the total reservations would jump to 85 per cent, which goes against Supreme Court’s recommendations.

The survey also proposed to raise the reservation for the II A category, which includes communities like the Kurubas (to which CM Siddaramaiah belongs), from 15 per cent to 22 per cent – nearly 50 per cent jump. Additionally, it recommends creating a new Most Backward Classes (MBC) category, termed I B, by reclassifying communities such as the Kurubas from the II A category.

If implemented, the new I B category will have 12 per cent quota, while the II A category’s reservation would be reduced to 10 per cent.

Following the survey’s tabling, Vokkaligas and Lingayats, claiming that their populations are 17 and 15 per cent respectively, have protested against it, going to the extent of labelling them as unscientific. The Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha threatened a statewide agitation, while the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha has demanded a new survey, terming the old one as flawed and fraudulent.

The survey has laid open the oft-spoken dominance of Lingayats and Vokkaligas for criticism. The demand for proportional representation in line with the share in population is catching momentum.

Congress, led by Siddaramaiah, supports the survey to strengthen its AHINDA (Minorities, Backward Classes, Dalits) base, which drove its 2023 victory, but it also doesn’t want to disenchant Vokkaliga and Lingayat voters.

Congress leaders like D.K. Shivakumar – a Vokkaliga – and M.B. Patil – a Lingayat – also criticised the report for inaccuracy and unscientific method of data collection. Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily is also not on board with the survey’s findings of Muslim population to be over 12.58 per cent of the state.

On the other hand, BJP has termed the survey divisive, accusing Congress of Muslim appeasement. R. Ashoka, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, said that the report is unscientific and an extension of the Siddaramaiah government’s Muslim appeasement.

BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra questioned the state government’s authority to conduct the exercise and pointed out that Cabinet ministers themselves are dissatisfied with the report.

The JD(S) is also unhappy with the report, as Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy went on to brand it as a ‘Hate Census’.

Siddaramaiah Cabinet sat on April 17 to discuss the issue but could not come to a decision. The next meeting is scheduled to be on 2 May, 2025, i.e. today.

On the policy front, the survey has not resulted in any significant change since it is yet to find full acceptance within the ruling dispensation itself.

Telangana

Unlike its counterparts in Bihar or Karnataka, Telangana’s caste survey has largely remained under the radar, primarily due to quick turnaround time (survey was completed in 50 days).

Officially termed the Socio, Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste Survey, it was completed in December 2024 and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy announced its findings in February 2025.

A 57-question form answered by 3.54 crore people – 96.9 per cent of the state’s population – revealed that 56.33 per cent of the population come under Backward Classes (BCs), while SCs and STs account for 17.43 per cent and 10.45 per cent of the state’s population. The total Muslim population is 12.56 per cent.

However, opposition parties like BJP and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) were not happy with the report. K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) of BRS wrote a letter to Rahul Gandhi and alleged that the Reddy government had deliberately undercounted BCs in its survey.

BJP parliamentarian K. Laxman, on the other hand, accused Congress of ignoring the Mandal Commission’s recommendations by differentiating between Hindu BCs and Muslim BCs (comprising 10 per cent of the population). He further alleged that Congress did so in accordance with its Muslim appeasement policy.

In March 2025, the Reddy government formed a panel comprising former Supreme Court judge Justice Sudarshan Reddy; former professor Kancha Ilaiah would as vice chairman; Praveen Chakravarty, economist; and activist Jean Drèze. A few days later, French economist Thomas Piketty was also included in it.

Within a week, the Reddy government passed the ‘Telangana Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of seats in educational institutions and of appointments for posts in services under the state) Bill, 2025’ and the ‘Telangana Backward Classes (Reservation of seats in rural and urban local bodies) Bill, 2025’.

The latter was brought to increase the reservation for BCs from 23 per cent to 42 per cent – a proposal backed by both opposition parties, namely BRS and BJP.

With these bills, Telangana became the second state after Bihar to increase reservation ceilings after the release of the caste survey in the state.

On 14 April, 2025, Telangana became the first state to implement the Supreme Court’s sanctioned mandate of sub-categorisation within the reservation.

Through the Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservation) Act, 2025, the Reddy government divided SCs into three groups for reservation purposes.

--Group I, which includes 15 castes facing significant socio-economic challenges, receives 1 per cent of the 15 per cent SC quota.

--Group II, with 18 castes, is allocated 9 per cent, and

--Group III, comprising 26 castes, gets 5 per cent reservation. The government achieved it despite opposition from Malas, a sub-caste among SCs.

It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the Reddy government used survey data to arrive at a more accurate estimation of the various sub-categories.

Recent experiences show that caste survey can be used for welfare policies, but the perquisite is that there needs to be a political will to take up this effort.

Caste census will act as mirror of society. If the reflection is unflattering, the answer lies in better policies—not in breaking the mirror. Hiding the truth won’t fix the image.