Govt. says records on caste enumeration decision exempt under RTI

Government withholds caste enumeration deliberation records from RTI requests, citing exemptions under the Right to Information Act.

The Union government has stated that records of the Inter-Ministerial deliberations, inputs, and suggestions referred to in making the decision to enumerate caste in the 2027 Census are exempt from public disclosure under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Responding to a request for these records filed by The Hindu under the RTI Act, the Union Cabinet Secretariat said that these records were exempt from disclosure under Section 8(1)(i) of the 2005 law. This section says the government is not obligated to disclose Cabinet papers, provided that “the matter is over” or “complete”; and provided that “the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken”.

On April 30, 2025, the Union government’s Press Information Bureau had posted a statement, saying, “Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has decided to include caste enumeration in the upcoming Census.”

On March 25 this year, responding to requests for information on records relied upon for this decision, the Cabinet Secretariat said, “The information sought is exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act.” Census 2027 kicked off on April 1, starting with the first phase, houselisting operations.

The Union government’s position on records relied upon for the decision to enumerate castes in this Census came even as officials of the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India have said that the method for enumerating castes has not yet been decided. The caste enumeration is scheduled to be part of the second phase of the Census, population enumeration, which is to be held next year.

In the request for information about records on the decision to include caste in the second phase, The Hindu had sought a list of Union Ministries and Departments from which the Cabinet Secretariat sought inputs, comments, or views before taking the decision. It had also specifically sought records of inputs received from the Law Ministry, Home Ministry, Statistics Ministry, the Ministries of Social Justice and Tribal Affairs, and the Office of the RGI and Census Commissioner of India.