Such a census will require careful preparation. I can provide all guidance gratis. The census will have to encompass castes in all religions because the caste system is a social reality even for converts.

With figures obtained from such a census as a base, the NSSO’s sample survey of social, educational and economic variables, will bring out the stark differences between the backward and forward castes.

When such a census is undertaken, Karan Thapar and others are not likely to have the last laugh. In any case, all these controversies are misplaced because whether BC population is 36 per cent or 52 per cent, it does not make any difference to the reservation quota of 27 per cent, which Mandal recommended in deference to a Supreme Court direction in the Balaji case (1963), capping total “vertical” reservation at 50 per cent, the reservation for SC plus ST already being 22.5 per cent.

(The writer is an adviser to the Union HRD ministry.)