Caste enumeration

This is with reference to the editorial “What's the sense of it?” (Sept. 13) There is no need for caste enumeration at this juncture. It could have been done along with the on-going census. The standalone headcount from June 2011 will affect teachers who are normally asked to help out in such an exercise. What about their primary duty of teaching? There is also a possibility of people making false statements during the enumeration.

A. Myilsami,

Coimbatore

This exercise will only help the ruling elite. The need of the hour is to specifically enlist those who are backward — financially and socially discriminated against — to ensure their progress. The exercise should be entrusted to an experts' group or agency.

A. Raghunatha Reddy,

Kadapa

The editorial and the statement by eminent intellectuals (Op-Ed, Sept. 13) are to be appreciated. The media often display social advertisements that have caste connections. In politics, caste equations determine the allocation of the party ticket. Constituencies are demarcated on the basis of caste data. We must compile authentic data along with the criteria of economic conditions. Otherwise, it will be a futile exercise with no useful data for formulating economic policies.

Ganti Mahapatruni Rama Rao,

Visakhapatnam

Vested interests have never allowed the issue of caste to wane over the centuries. A caste census will be quite helpful to (and only to) unscrupulous leaders. By creating even a 15 per cent vote bank, they can score wins even in fractured mandates. Social justice can only be ensured by an enlightened polity, the emergence of which is effectively thwarted by casteist politics.

M.H. Rao,

Hyderabad