The Census 2027 will ask respondents if they belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe and to state their caste verbatim, according to the questionnaire for the second phase notified by the Union government on Friday.

It makes no mention of the Other Backward Classes.

For the first time since 1931, caste will be enumerated in the Census. The Opposition had been demanding a nationwide caste census. The proponents of such an exercise argue that it will help identify the true population of the country’s Other Backward Classes and other castes, in turn paving the way for policies such as expanded quotas in jobs and education.

Scroll had reported on July 20 that during a trial for the second phase of the census, the government tested an open column to collect caste details from respondents other than those belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Instead of a fixed list or boxes to tick, the form had a blank space for respondents to write down their caste.

The pre-test for the second phase of Census 2027 was conducted from July 1 to July 20 in 16 states and Union Territories.

The population enumeration phase of the census will take place from September 1 to September 30 in Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, according to a gazette notification issued earlier this month. The online self-enumeration window for the second phase will be open from August 17 to August 31.

It will be conducted in other parts of the country in February 2027.

Among the 40 questions notified on Friday are those seeking information on the place where respondents received their Covid-19 vaccination, the total number of bank accounts they hold and digital literacy. The form also seeks information on Aadhaar numbers, mobile numbers, passport numbers and voter IDs.

The last decennial census exercise was held in 2011. In 2020, India was set to begin the first phase of the exercise – in which housing data is collected – but it had to be delayed as the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Written by Anamika Pathak. Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.

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