The Nair Service Society (NSS), a dominant caste organisation in Kerala that represents the influential Nair community, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging to scrap the proposed caste enumeration in the upcoming national census. NSS said that collecting caste data would undermine decades of work toward eliminating caste discrimination in Indian society.
In a memorandum submitted to the PM on June 9, the NSS argued that such a move would violate constitutional principles and create social divisions.
The letter comes in response to the recent decision by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by PM Modi, to include caste data collection in India's first census exercise in 16 years. The census, scheduled to be conducted in two phases before March 1, 2027, will mark a significant departure from post-independence practice, as caste has been excluded from all census operations since 1947.
In the letter signed by NSS General Secretary G Sukumaran Nair, the organisation claimed that caste enumeration would infringe upon citizens' fundamental right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution, citing the landmark Puttaswamy v Union of India judgement of 2019, which declared the right to privacy as a fundamental right.
"The collection of any demographic information beyond name, address, gender and date of birth would invade personal autonomy of privacy," the organisation stated, adding that the move contradicts the equality principles enshrined in Articles 14 (Equality before law), 15 (Prohibition of discrimination), and 16 (Equality of opportunity in public employment) of the Constitution.
The NSS drew parallels to the 1931 communal census conducted during British rule, describing it as a divisive tool used to "quell the freedom struggle by perpetuating caste and religion to divide citizens."
"The society will be fragmented on the basis of caste and religion which would invariably jeopardise the integrity and fraternity of the nation," the letter warned, arguing that caste census would create "fissiparous tendencies" in Indian society.
The NSS, founded in 1914 by Mannath Padmanabhan, currently operates an extensive network of educational institutions and hospitals across Kerala.
The organisation emphasized that all its 200-plus institutions remain open to people of all castes and religions, reflecting its commitment to social integration.
As per Article 246 of the Constitution of India, Census is a union subject listed as 69 in the Union List in the Seventh Schedule and holding it is a prerogative of the Union government. The upcoming exercise will be India's first population count since 2011. One of the reasons for the delay in holding the census exercise was the COVID-19 pandemic.