New Delhi: The Centre on Friday, August 14, notified 40 questions to be asked during the population enumeration phase of Census 2027, including one on caste, marking the first time caste will be enumerated in independent India beyond the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Question number 10 on the census schedule reads “Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Caste,” with the enumerator recording the caste as declared by the respondent, as it is an open column.
The questions were notified by Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, expanding the scope of data collection to include Aadhaar numbers, mobile numbers, voter IDs, bank accounts and COVID-19 vaccination details, wherever available.
Enumeration begins August 17
The notification comes days ahead of the second phase of the census, which begins on August 17 in Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, well before the rest of the country, where the exercise will be conducted in February 2027.
Issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the Census Act, 1948, the notification authorises census officers to collect information through the household schedule from every person residing in their assigned areas.
A rehearsal for the population enumeration phase was conducted from July 1 to 20 in 16 states and Union Territories, where respondents other than SCs and STs recorded their castes in an open column, according to an earlier report by The Hindu.
The methodology is likely to be retained in the final form.
What the schedule covers
The 40 categories include basic demographic details such as name, relationship to head of household, sex, date of birth and age, current marital status, age at marriage, spouse’s name, nationality as declared, religion, caste or tribe and father’s and mother’s particulars. Disability is also recorded.
The schedule seeks information on mother tongue and other languages known, literacy and digital literacy status, attendance in educational institutions and the highest educational level attained along with the stream or discipline.
On employment, respondents will be asked whether they worked at any time during the past year, their category of economic activity, occupation, the nature of the industry, trade or service and their class of worker. Marginal, semi-marginal and non-workers will be asked about non-economic activity and whether they are seeking or available for work. Travel to the place of work will also be recorded.
Migration data to be collected includes birthplace, place of last residence, reason for migration and duration of stay in the present village or town since the last migration, besides the permanent residential address.
For women who are currently married, widowed, divorced or separated, officials will record the number of children surviving and the number ever born alive. Currently married women will additionally be asked the number of children born alive during the past year.
Among the notable additions are questions on the place of COVID-19 vaccination, the total number of bank accounts and identification details including mobile number, Aadhaar number, voter ID number, passport number for Indian passport holders and availability of a driving licence.
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