Caste enumeration like MRI, can't be source of problem: Vice President

New Delhi: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said caste enumeration in the upcoming census exercise will be a transformative step to bring about social justice and rejected suggestions that it could lead to problems in the society.

He also said thoughtfully-collected caste data will be an instrument of integration, like an MRI of the body.

Dhankhar said effective policy planning without robust statistics can be compared to a surgery carried out in the dark.

Addressing Indian Statistical Service (IIS) probationers here, he said caste enumeration will be a transformative step and a game-changer. It will help bring about social justice and will be an eye-opener.

"It will satisfy people's aspirations. It is a very broad decision of the government," an official statement quoted the vice president as saying.

Dhankhar opined that far from being divisive, thoughtfully-collected caste data will be an instrument of integration.

"Some people are debating it. We are mature minds. How can information collected by itself be a source of the problem? It is like getting your body MRI. You will know about it when you stand. People will realise. And this mechanism will transform abstract constitutional commitments to equality into measurable, accountable policy outcomes," he said.

The vice president reiterated that India's aspirations for becoming a developed country are firmly rooted in evidence-based planning.

The path to a developed India is built with statistical insights marked by evidence-based milestones. "In togetherness, we must create a nation that thinks empirically ... but is driven by hardcore evidence," he said.

Dhankhar urged for timely and relevant data collection and usage for informed policy making, saying statistics is not merely about numbers but much more than that. He said a delayed or misguided policy can have serious consequences and a timely intervention, well-informed decisions can yield results that are exponential, not just incremental.

Amid demands from several quarters and various political parties, the government decided last month to include caste enumeration in the next nationwide census.