Census 2027: How caste will be recorded and why it matters

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) on August 14, 2026, notified a set of 40 questions for Population Enumeration, the second phase of Census 2027. This phase is significant because, for the first time since Independence, caste data will be collected for all citizens, not just for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The census is conducted in two phases: the Housing and House Listing Operations (HLO) and Population Enumeration, spanning over 11 months. The HLO phase is to be concluded by September 30 across the country, with most states having completed it, barring West Bengal, Assam, Manipur, Tripura, and Tamil Nadu. The Population Enumeration will start early in the Union Territory of Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand from August 17 to September 30, ahead of the rest of the country where it will be conducted in February 2027.

The 40-question schedule includes 13 new data fields that were not part of the Census 2011 questionnaire, which had 29 questions. Among the additions are spouse's name, parents' particulars, nationality, digital literacy status, permanent residential address, place of COVID-19 vaccination, number of bank accounts, passport number, driving licence availability, mobile number, Aadhaar number, and voter ID number.

Question number 10 on the schedule reads: “Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST)/ Caste.” Officials said that enumerators will record the caste as declared by respondents in an open field rather than selecting from a pre-prepared list. This methodology was tested during pre-tests conducted in 16 states and Union Territories in July.

This open-ended format has drawn criticism from the Congress party, which argues that it may create data-quality challenges. The concern is rooted in the experience of the 2011 Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), which generated more than 46 lakh distinct caste names due to variations in how people identified their caste. The Union government has previously cited these inconsistencies as a reason for not releasing the SECC caste data.

Several of the new questions, such as parents' particulars, Aadhaar, mobile number, voter ID, and driving licence details, were also part of the proposed National Population Register (NPR) rehearsal form in 2019. The NPR was initially planned to be updated alongside the first phase of the census but has been put on hold due to opposition from political parties and civil society, who fear that the data could be used to create a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Under the Citizenship Rules, 2003, framed under the Citizenship Act, 1955, the NPR is the first step toward creating an NRC. The NPR was first created in 2010 and updated in 2015-16. It contains a family-wise database of around 119 crore usual residents, and unlike census data, it can be shared with government agencies and states. In 2019-20, thousands of people protested against the government's decision to update the NPR, as it was seen as a precursor to the NRC, which could potentially exclude millions of Indian citizens through a document-based verification process.

The inclusion of personal identifiers like Aadhaar, bank account numbers, and vaccination details has also raised privacy concerns. Critics argue that linking these details to a population database could facilitate surveillance and exclusionary practices. The government has maintained that the census data is confidential and used only for policy planning, but the overlapping nature of census and NPR questions has led to demands for clarity on data protection.

As the country prepares for the second phase of Census 2027, the debate over caste enumeration and data privacy reflects deeper questions about identity, inclusion, and governance. The outcome of this exercise will likely shape policy and political discourse for years to come.