Census 2027: Complete list of questions for second phase includes caste for all communities

The forthcoming Population Census 2027, the first digital Census of India, will for the first time in independent India enumerate caste across all communities. The second phase, known as Population Enumeration (PE), is scheduled to commence in February 2027, and the government has released the list of questions to be asked during this phase.

The Union Cabinet Committee approved the inclusion of caste enumeration in the Census in April 2025. Until now, only Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) were enumerated during Census exercises. The Census 2027 will be the 16th Census of India and the eighth since Independence.

The Census is conducted in two phases: the Housing Listing Operations (HLO) and Population Enumeration (PE). The HLO phase, which began on April 1, 2026, is scheduled to conclude on September 30, 2026. With the exception of a few States, including West Bengal, Assam and Manipur, this phase has largely been completed across the country. The HLO phase includes 33 questions on household characteristics such as sex of the head of household, type of cereal consumed, and number of couples residing in the household.

The PE phase will record caste identities of all residents. A rehearsal conducted from July 1 to July 20, 2026, in 16 States and Union Territories tested the process. During the rehearsal, respondents who were not from SC/ST communities recorded their caste in an open column, and enumerators entered the caste as declared by residents. A self-enumeration facility will be available from August 17 to August 31, 2026, before the door-to-door enumeration begins.

Around 30 lakh field functionaries, including enumerators, supervisors, master trainers, charge officers and Principal or District Census Officers, will be deployed for data collection, monitoring and supervision.

The Central Government has released the Household Schedule for Census 2027, listing the questions enumerators may ask. The questions cover demographic details, education, employment, migration, disability, religion, and caste, among others. The schedule includes the following questions:

1. Name of the person
2. Relationship to head
3. Sex
4. Date of birth and age (in completed years)
5. Current marital status
6. Age at marriage (in completed years)
7. Spouse name
8. Nationality as declared
9. Religion
10. Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Caste
11. Father’s particulars
12. Mother’s particulars
13. Disability
14. Mother tongue and other languages known
15. Literacy and digital literacy status
16. Status of attendance in educational institution
17. Highest educational level attained and stream/discipline
18. Worked at any time during the last year
19. Category of economic activity
20. Occupation
21. Nature of industry, trade or service
22. Class of worker
23. Non-economic activity (for marginal, semi-marginal and non-workers)
24. Seeking or available for work (for marginal, semi-marginal and non-workers)
25. Travel to place of work
26. Place of birth
27. Place of last residence
28. Reason for migration
29. Duration of stay in this village or town since last migration
30. Permanent residential

The PE phase will begin earlier in Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on August 17, 2026, ahead of the nationwide exercise in February 2027. The inclusion of caste in the Census has been a long-standing demand from various social groups who argue that comprehensive data is essential for policy planning and social justice. At the same time, the exercise has raised questions about privacy and data security. The government has stated that the information will be used for welfare and developmental purposes, with safeguards in place to protect individual privacy.