Why India needs more reliable data on Dalit Christians and Muslims Without reliable data, the marginalised communities are left exposed to discrimination. Mar 16, 2021 · 07:30 pm The Constitution guarantees various kinds of protection and benefits to SCs that Dalit Muslims and Christians do not have access to. | Prakash Singh/AFP The exclusion of Dalit Christians and Muslims from the Scheduled Caste category, and the lack of reliable government data on them, deprives these communities of the constitutional benefits extended to Dalits from other religious backgrounds, say experts. Currently, only Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist Dalits are enumerated as SC. Before the previous Census in 2011, the Centre had decided to enumerate overall caste data in a separate exercise – the