Visakhapatnam: The Minister of State at the Ministry of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said that the population census was not an ideal instrument for the enumeration of other caste-wise or back classes (OBC) from the population.
The Indian government has not mentioned the caste population in addition to the caste (SCS) and tribes scheduled in the census since independence.
He told Rajya Sabha that the ministry realized that the resolution to conduct a caste-based census was passed by the AP legislative assembly.
The census schedule is designed in consultation with various stakeholders including the central ministry.
He said the national sample survey (NSS) was not specifically designed to estimate the population of a country and any social group.
Information about household social groups is collected in household-based NSS surveys only for categorization purposes.