Athawale Calls for Inclusion of SC Converts to Buddhism in Census Classification

PTI, April 8, 2026, Mumbai : Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday demanded that people who converted to Buddhism from the Scheduled Castes in Maharashtra be recorded as "Buddhist" by religion during the ongoing Census exercise, but their caste should continue to be listed under the SC category.

"This would ensure accurate representation," Athawale said, noting that if "neo-Buddhists" are recorded only under religion as "Buddhists", their population may be counted under the general category, leading to a reduction in the Scheduled Caste population figures in the state.

The Union Minister raised this demand during a meeting with Maharashtra Governor Jishnu Dev Varma at Raj Bhavan, where he submitted a memorandum seeking specific directions to the state government on the issue. The Census kickstarted on April 1 in eight states and Union Territories, including Delhi, with the opening of a 15-day self-enumeration window, where citizens can exercise the option to provide information about themselves on the web portal, developed by the government.

Census 2027 is being conducted in two phases — the first stage is known as house listing and housing census, and the second stage is the population census. Scheduled Caste people who had converted to Buddhism should be recorded as "Buddhist" under religion during the enumeration exercise, but their caste should continue to be listed under the SC category along with the original caste serial number, Athawale said.

"This would ensure that neo-Buddhists in Maharashtra are not excluded from SC population data," he said in a statement issued after meeting the Governor. Referring to the mass conversion led by Dr B R Ambedkar on October 14, 1956, Athawale stated that a large section of the Scheduled Caste people in Maharashtra had adopted Buddhism.

He noted that neo-Buddhists were included in the SC category following a Constitutional amendment during the tenure of then Prime Minister V P Singh in 1990.