Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has criticised the ongoing caste census process, describing it as flawed and questioning the Central Government's approach to collecting caste-related data. Gehlot alleged that the current process could undermine the objective of the caste census by making it difficult to generate accurate and usable information. He urged the Centre to immediately review the process and take corrective measures.

Gehlot objected particularly to the use of an open-ended format in which individuals are asked to provide their caste name as they identify it. He pointed out that the same caste can be known by different names, sub-castes and linguistic variations across different regions of India. According to him, recording these variations without a standardised framework could result in the same community being divided across numerous entries, making the eventual data difficult to analyse.

The former Chief Minister also raised concerns over the absence of the term Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the census process. He argued that without an appropriate classification framework, it would be difficult to establish the actual population of Backward Classes from the data collected. Gehlot referred to caste surveys conducted in Telangana in 2024 and Bihar in 2022 while arguing that a more comprehensive approach to identifying and categorising communities was possible.

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Gehlot also referred to a letter written by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking preparation of a comprehensive list of castes before the census exercise. He argued that establishing such a framework in advance would help avoid confusion and ensure greater consistency in the collection and interpretation of caste data.

The Congress leader has demanded that the Central Government withdraw what he described as the flawed process and prepare a revised questionnaire after consultations with political parties, experts and members of the public. He maintained that wider consultation would help address concerns surrounding caste identification, classification and regional variations before the data collection process advances further.

Gehlot argued that the purpose of a caste census is to generate reliable information about India's social composition and help governments formulate policies based on evidence. He maintained that accurate caste data would be important for social justice, equitable representation and welfare measures for disadvantaged communities. He urged the Centre to ensure that the census process produces meaningful and dependable data rather than fragmented information that could be difficult to use for policymaking.

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