Ponnam seeks separate OBC/SEBC category in Census 2027

Backward Classes Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar has petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to establish a distinct OBC/SEBC category in the Census 2027 questionnaire. In correspondence with the Prime Minister, Mr. Prabhakar highlighted the potential impact of lacking a separate OBC/SEBC category on the precision and practicality of caste enumeration data.

He advocated for standardized caste coding and a scientific approach for identifying backward communities. The minister clarified that caste identification and OBC/SEBC classification are not inherently linked, as classifications can differ between Central and State lists. He emphasized that the Census methodology must consider the state-specific nature of OBC/SEBC classification.

Mr. Prabhakar drew upon the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011, noting that discrepancies in spelling, local terminology, synonyms, sub-castes, and phonetic variations led to numerous isolated caste entries, complicating verification, aggregation, and classification. He urged the central government to create a comprehensive, state-wise master caste directory and assign unique digital codes to recognized castes and communities.

Additionally, he sought a system to individually recognize unlisted, disputed, or locally acknowledged caste names for verification purposes. The minister proposed that both the caste declared by a respondent and its relevant administrative classification be preserved to maintain transparency and traceability of the data. He also cited Telangana’s Socio-Economic, Educational, Employment, Political, and Caste (SEEEPC) Survey 2024-25 as an example of a structured caste and socio-economic data collection system.

The Union government should ensure that the Census 2027 yields a practical OBC/SEBC dataset, rather than merely gathering raw caste names, which would be crucial for policies regarding reservation, representation, education, employment, and welfare.