Welfare over politics: RSS proposes committee to assess ground realities after Centre's caste census move

The RSS maintains that caste data should be used only for welfare and has resisted its use for electoral mobilisation.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is learnt to have mooted the formation of a committee to assess the ground-level caste realities following the Narendra Modi government's decision to include caste data in the upcoming population Census, CNN-News18 reported citing sources.

The scope of the committee mooted by the RSS is in line with the organisation's stand articulated in September 2024 that the inclusion of caste data in the population census was acceptable as long it focusses on the welfare of downtrodden sections of society and not for political gains.

Notably, this was a reversal from the RSS' earlier position to the caste census and its long held aversion to any divisions in society on the basis of caste.

"Earlier also, the government has taken such data, and so it can do it again. But it should be done only for the welfare of those communities and castes. It should not be used as a political tool for elections. So, we put this forth with a line of caution for everyone,” RSS spokesperson Sunil Ambekar said in September last year.

The latest development is expected to be based on formulating a structural response to the emerging socio-political concerns. As per the report, the setting up of the committee, which was floated within the RSS internally, is now under consideration by the top brass.

“The suggestion, shared through its internal communication channels, reflects the Sangh’s growing focus on engaging with the evolving caste equations and the socio-economic impact, while firmly asserting that caste-based data must be used exclusively for public welfare—not political gain," the News18 report quoted a senior RSS functionary familiar with the developments as saying.

The functionary further said that the proposed committee must undertake empirical and ground surveys to understand how data on SCs, STs and OBCs have contributed to public welfare and whether it has resulted in their upliftment and development instead of just relying on the existing statistics.

The proposed committee is expected to be tasked with analysing existing caste-related data and also conducting fresh surveys to gauge and understand the real-time effectiveness of welfare schemes.

The focus of the committee's scope of work would be on evidence-driven insights to help shape policy direction for both state and central governments, the report added.

Another senior functionary cited in the report reiterated the Sangh's stand. "There are forces in this country that have, for long, tried to divide Hindus based on caste identities. Their sole aim has been dividing Hindus to reap political benefits. That cannot be allowed to continue. The purpose of data must be upliftment, not vote-bank arithmetic," he said.

While the RSS acknowledges the existence of caste-based disparities in society, it has vehemently opposed attempts to politicise them.

The proposed framework, if implemented, would likely include recommendations to ensure transparency, define how welfare outcomes are monitored, and establish boundaries to prevent the misuse of data for electoral mobilisation.

“The idea is to create a blueprint that enables governments to act justly. But we have to ensure that no one uses caste data as a political weapon. That would defeat the purpose," the report quoted the first RSS functionary as saying.

The RSS' intervention on the issue of caste census comes amid the issued gaining political prominence since the Lok Sabha elections last year, and the Centre's surprise move last month that apparently stole the Opposition's thunder. The focus of the Sangh, however, is unlikely to focus on an overt political messaging and instead be aimed towards building internal consensus addressing new caste realities with an emphasis on social harmony and data-backed welfare.