-The Hindu A precise caste census is difficult, but the data will be useful to drive social policy The idea of a national caste census might be abhorrent when the stated policy is to strive for a casteless society, but it will be useful to establish statistical justification for preserving caste-based affirmative action programmes. It may also be a legal imperative, considering that courts want ‘quantifiable data’ to support the existing levels...

-Hindustan Times The Centre also told the court that it is also against collecting any information on castes or backward classes, other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, during the upcoming population census in 2022 The caste census conducted in 2011 is “unusable” for any official purpose on account of grave “inaccuracies” in its data, the Union government has told the Supreme Court, while adding it is also against collecting any information...

-The Hindu “It has suffered, and will suffer, both on account of completeness and accuracy of the data,” an affidavit filed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the Supreme Court said. The government has made it clear in the Supreme Court that a caste census of the Backward Classes is “administratively difficult and cumbersome”. The Centre reasoned that even when the census of castes were taken in the pre-Independence period,...

-The Hindu India’s religious mix has been stable since 1951, says Pew Center study The religious composition of India’s population since Partition has remained largely stable, with both Hindus and Muslims, the two largest religious groups, showing not only a marked decline but also a convergence in fertility rates, according to a new study published by the Pew Research Center, a non-profit based in Washington DC. The study, based on data sourced from...

Remote teaching and learning promoted by Edtech companies as an alternative to physical classrooms, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, may have a sizeable consumer base in our country. However, at the bottom of the pyramid, there are only a few takers of online education. In reality, class and caste-divide, which is more prominent in rural areas, affects access to digital learning. The majority of the school going...