Bengaluru, 26 Sept 

The Archdiocese of Bangalore on Friday welcomed the ongoing Social and Educational Survey—widely referred to as the "caste census"—while expressing hope that omissions of certain castes linked to Christianity in the published lists will be restored after the final analysis of the survey.

Addressing a press conference, Archbishop of Bangalore Peter Machado urged the government to ensure fair representation of all Christian communities and called on members of the Christian community to "take this survey seriously and responsibly, cooperating in a spirit of civic duty."

"Deletions, if any, risk denying historical communities their rightful recognition and may cause injustice in accessing welfare schemes," he said. "Since the government has removed all the other categories, there is no choice for us (Christians). We can’t put any other category in our caste category, which is a little sad. I have told our people that—I leave it to your freedom. If you belong to a caste and you don’t want to put a caste, I am with you. If you belong to a particular caste and you want to put it, it is left to you.”

Earlier, ahead of the survey, amid criticism and objections from various quarters, the Backward Classes Commission had said that the names of 33 castes with dual identities—having both Christian and Hindu caste names such as ‘Kuruba Christian,’ ‘Brahmin Christian,’ and ‘Vokkaliga Christian’—would be "masked but not removed".

According to him, the survey "will provide a clear classification of different caste groups, enabling the framing of policies and programmes that are just, inclusive, and need-based." Machado claimed that "under-reporting by Christians in past surveys had led to lower figures" in official reports.

"We are told we are 9.75 lakh in Bengaluru only. So if the numbers increase or improve, perhaps we can ask the government to put us into the 2B or 2C category of OBC," he said.