Census 2027 | Caste methodology yet to be decided, clarity likely by July

Census 2027's caste enumeration methodology remains undecided, with clarity expected by July amid opposition concerns.

The methodology to be followed for caste enumeration in the forthcoming Census is yet to be finalised and the preparatory exercise for it will likely be done by July, government sources said.

Opposition parties such as the Congress and the Samajwadi Party have questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government, due to the absence of an expanded caste column in the questionnaire of the first phase of the Census, which was published last week. The parties asked whether the Centre really intended to hold a caste count during the Population Census 2027.

However, the final questionnaire for caste enumeration is likely to be known only in September, when Population Enumeration (PE), the second phase of Census 2027, kicks off in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, ahead of the rest of the country. Caste count in all other States will be held during the PE phase in February 2027.

This will be the 16th Census and the first in independent India to count all castes, other than Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), the government has said.

Unlike the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), which was done outside the purview of the Census, caste will be enumerated this time in the second and final phase, giving it statutory backing. The SECC enumerated more than 46 lakh castes while the total number of castes during the pre-Independence 1931 Census was 4,147.

This will also be the first time that Census data is captured digitally, on smartphones and mobile apps and the first time when citizens will be able to self-enumerate through a yet-to-be announced portal.