Caste among 40 questions notified for the second phase of the Census 2027

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs cleared the decision to include caste enumeration on April 30 last year

The government on Friday notified 40 questions, including one about the respondents’ caste, for the population enumeration (PE), the second phase of the Census 2027, which begins in Ladakh and snowbound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on August 17. For the rest of the country, the population enumeration will be conducted in February 2027.

Caste is being enumerated for the first time since independence.

Caste is being enumerated for the first time since independence. The question about it is number 10, along with a “schedule caste/schedule tribe” column in an open-ended format, which means Census officers will record the caste of a person as declared.

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs cleared the decision to include caste enumeration on April 30 last year. The move came ahead of the assembly polls in Bihar, where caste enumeration was on top of the Opposition’s agenda. The Opposition pushed for a caste census in what was widely seen as an effort to break the coalition forming the bulk of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s support base. A landmark caste survey conducted in Bihar showed backward communities make up nearly two-thirds of the state.

The Census questions were notified in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 8 of the Census Act, 1948. “...the Central government hereby instructs and directs that the census officers may, within the limits of the local area for which they have been respectively appointed, ask all such questions of all persons residing within such limits, subject to the items enumerated below, for collecting information through the household schedule in connection with the Census of India 2027,” Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said in the notification.

It said the respondents will be asked personal information such as name, relationship to the head (of family), sex, date of birth and age (in completed years), current marital status, age at marriage (in completed years), spouse name, nationality as declared, disability, mother tongue and other languages known, religion, caste or tribe, among others.

The respondents will have to answer two separate questions on “mother’s particulars” and “father’s particulars,” being collected separately for the first time. On education and work status, the respondents will be asked about literacy and digital literacy status, attendance at an educational institution, highest education level attained, and stream/discipline.

They will be asked whether they have worked during the last year, category of economic activity, occupation, nature of industry, trade or service.

The questionnaire seeks information on the class of a worker, non-economic activity (for marginal, semi-marginal and non-worker), seeking or available for work (for marginal, semi-marginal and non-worker), and travel to place of work.

Census officers will ask questions on migration, such as the birthplace, place of last residence, reason for migration, duration of stay in this village/town since last migration, and permanent residential address, according to the notification.

Married, widowed, divorced, and separated women will be asked for the number of children, the number of children in the current marriage, and the number of children born alive in the last one year.

The Census exercise has prominent additions for the first time. Enumerators will ask people about the “place of Covid-19 vaccination” and the number of bank accounts. There are three voluntary questions on mobile, Aadhaar, and Voter ID numbers. Respondents’ passport (Indian) number and driving license status will also be recorded.

Census 2027 is being conducted using digital tools for the first time. Data are being collected through a dedicated mobile application while retaining the traditional door-to-door enumeration process.

Originally scheduled for 2021, the Census was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Data collection is targeted to conclude by March 1, 2027. Officials said the collation and publication of results will take two to three years.