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The Caste Con Census
It is the C word that counts.
It has been almost a hundred years since the last nation-wide caste count. The 1931 Census, a British exercise, accounted for 4,147 castes. The Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011 returned over 46 lakh caste names. Castes are countless. Caste, by definition, divides. And in the modern period, castes have only multiplied.
Many advocates of social justice believe that counting castes will help redress inequalities. Is this true? What will a more detailed headcount reveal? How will the data be used? In an age when the state often fudges truth and numbers, what are the consequences? Will there be a quota for everyone? Can annihilation of caste ever be a reality?
Anand Teltumbde wades through the history, maths and dynamics of this debate, and lays bare all that is at stake.
Anand Teltumbde is one of India’s most outspoken public intellectuals. He has authored over twenty books in English and Marathi; among them are Republic of Caste: Thinking Equality in the Time of Neoliberal Hindutva and The Iconoclast: A Reflective Biography of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. He lives in Mumbai.
It has been almost a hundred years since the last nation-wide caste count. The 1931 Census, a British exercise, accounted for 4,147 castes. The Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011 returned over 46 lakh caste names. Castes are countless. Caste, by definition, divides. And in the modern period, castes have only multiplied.
Many advocates of social justice believe that counting castes will help redress inequalities. Is this true? What will a more detailed headcount reveal? How will the data be used? In an age when the state often fudges truth and numbers, what are the consequences? Will there be a quota for everyone? Can annihilation of caste ever be a reality?
Anand Teltumbde wades through the history, maths and dynamics of this debate, and lays bare all that is at stake.
Anand Teltumbde is one of India’s most outspoken public intellectuals. He has authored over twenty books in English and Marathi; among them are Republic of Caste: Thinking Equality in the Time of Neoliberal Hindutva and The Iconoclast: A Reflective Biography of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. He lives in Mumbai.
256 pages, Paperback
Published November 5, 2025
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About the author
Anand Teltumbde
22 books110 followersAnand Teltumbde is a leading public intellectual and is known for his critical insights on many a contemporary issue. A civil rights activist of long standing, he is currently General Secretary of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR). He is also associated with the All India Forum for Rights to Education (AIFRTE), which is spearheading the movement for common school system, as a member of its Presidium and many other Peoples’ movements.
A regular contributor to Economic and Political Weekly, wherein he writes a monthly column ‘Margin Speak’. He also regularly contributes to other progressive journals like Mainstream, Frontier, Seminar, etc. and most English and Marathi newspapers.
Some of his recent books are Dalits: past, Present and Future (Routledge, 2016), Mahad: Making of the First Dalit Revolt (Aakar, 2016), Persistence of Caste (Zed Books, 2010); Khairlanji: A Strange and Bitter Crop (Navayana, 2008); Anti-Imperialism and Annihilation of Castes (Ramai, 2005); and Hindutva and Dalits: Perspectives for Understanding Communal Praxis, (Ed) (Samya, 2005). He is widely translated into most Indian languages.
He has been a CEO of a holding company. After his corporate stint, he joined IIT, Kharagpur, where he teaches Business Management.
A regular contributor to Economic and Political Weekly, wherein he writes a monthly column ‘Margin Speak’. He also regularly contributes to other progressive journals like Mainstream, Frontier, Seminar, etc. and most English and Marathi newspapers.
Some of his recent books are Dalits: past, Present and Future (Routledge, 2016), Mahad: Making of the First Dalit Revolt (Aakar, 2016), Persistence of Caste (Zed Books, 2010); Khairlanji: A Strange and Bitter Crop (Navayana, 2008); Anti-Imperialism and Annihilation of Castes (Ramai, 2005); and Hindutva and Dalits: Perspectives for Understanding Communal Praxis, (Ed) (Samya, 2005). He is widely translated into most Indian languages.
He has been a CEO of a holding company. After his corporate stint, he joined IIT, Kharagpur, where he teaches Business Management.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 7, 2026
The book is fair in its assessment of caste system, reservations and rightly critiques caste census. However, it is also overtly critical of BJP and has ultra-socialist (read communist) undertones.
February 26, 2026
Anand has a great contrarian perspective, one that I rather agree with. The review is for the book, and not for the stance.
(-1) Repetitive, could have been an essay.
(-1) While there was a solution, or a better way proposed at the end, the author agreed that it is too late to implement now. Along with this, the rest of the book also seems to examine all policies from a social justice standpoint. There is complete disregard to trade offs in political decision making or constraints of decision makers when they took certain decisions. I like analyses which try to put us into their shoes and understand why they took the decisions they did. Those seem more useful tools for the present day. I need to know what I can do now given my current constraints, not how an ideal world should be, or what alternate choice my forefathers had but did not take due to reasons unexplored by the author.
(-1) Repetitive, could have been an essay.
(-1) While there was a solution, or a better way proposed at the end, the author agreed that it is too late to implement now. Along with this, the rest of the book also seems to examine all policies from a social justice standpoint. There is complete disregard to trade offs in political decision making or constraints of decision makers when they took certain decisions. I like analyses which try to put us into their shoes and understand why they took the decisions they did. Those seem more useful tools for the present day. I need to know what I can do now given my current constraints, not how an ideal world should be, or what alternate choice my forefathers had but did not take due to reasons unexplored by the author.
December 29, 2025
This is a helpful book in setting the historical and socio-political context to the caste-based Census in India. The book takes a life beyond the Census, anticipating and predicting the life future census (as conducted by the fascist regime) might take. I like how Teltumbde doesn't hold back, and gives sharp critique - not just demanding data but "to demand the political will to confront what the data reveals". A must read for people interested in political formations, political science and data computing. I recommend reading this book alongside Trina Vithayathil's 'Counting Caste: Census Politics, Bureaucratic Deflection, and Brahmanical Power in India' (Cambridge University Press, 2025).
March 9, 2026
required reading for anyone trying to understand indian history
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews