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Caste census: how to count caste

Census 2027 will count every caste for the first time since 1931, but parties disagree on whether an open answer box can produce usable numbers.

AI illustration
The question

Will an open caste column in Census 2027 record caste honestly, or fragment communities and hide the true size of the OBC population?

40questions in the Census 2027 headcount form, 13 of them new since 2011The Hindu
1931the last census that counted every caste in IndiaScroll
46 lakh+distinct caste names returned by the open field in the 2011 SECC caste surveyThe Hindu
~3,000communities classified as OBC across Central and State lists, per officialsThe Hindu
1 Dec 2026door-to-door headcount starts in UP, Punjab, Goa and most of UttarakhandThe Indian Express
Context

How we got here

India's census counts everyone every ten years. Since Independence it has recorded caste only for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), groups listed in the Constitution for special protection. The last count of all castes was in 1931. On 30 April 2025 the Union government announced that Census 2027 would count caste. On 14 August 2026 the Registrar General of India notified 40 questions for the second, headcount phase. Question 10 lets SC and ST respondents pick their caste from an official list. Everyone else types a caste name into an open box, or picks 'No Caste' or 'Does not want to declare Caste'. Congress and Other Backward Classes (OBC) groups say this could repeat the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), whose open field returned over 46 lakh caste names and whose caste data was never released. Government officials and some commentators say existing OBC lists are not usable as a caste menu and that raw answers can be sorted later. Counting began in Ladakh and snow-bound areas in September 2026, moves to four poll-bound states in December and covers the rest of India from February 2027.

In their own words

Where each side stands

Union government and BJP

Officials told The Hindu the Centre weighed using OBC lists but dropped them because they list 'classes, not castes', and that the open column was chosen after options were considered at the 'highest levels'. BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said Congress never held a caste census in power and called its objections 'panic and consternation'.

The Hindu · Asianet Newsable (ANI)
Congress and OBC groups

Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi say an open question could split one caste into thousands of names, and that the form never uses the term 'backward class', so the OBC population may stay unknown. They want a drop-down caste list built from government lists, as in the Bihar and Telangana surveys. Jairam Ramesh alleged the government wants to 'sabotage' the count.

Scroll · The Hindu
Defenders of the open column

A Swarajya analysis argues the open column records what people call themselves, avoids forcing enumerators to classify caste at the doorstep, and can be cleaned at tabulation as the census does for mother tongue. It says critics should instead demand published coding rules and raw frequency tables.

Swarajya
Verification petitioner

Academic Aakash Goel has asked the Supreme Court to require a procedure to record and check caste certificate details, arguing that unchecked self-declaration could distort data used for welfare and reservation policy.

LiveLaw · ThePrint
6 moments

The timeline

  1. Supreme Court asks Centre to explain how caste entries in Census 2027 will be verified

    The plea asks that census caste data not be the sole basis for reservation policy until a verification protocol exists.

  2. Census office yet to decide how open-column caste answers will be sorted, officials say

    Critics say the method could repeat the 2011 caste survey, which returned over 46 lakh distinct caste names.

  3. Census headcount, including caste, advanced to December in UP, Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand

    A revisional round runs from 5 to 9 January 2027; the reference date is midnight on 5 January 2027.

  4. Officials say Centre skipped OBC lists for the census because they list 'classes, not castes'

    Officials said the open-column method was finalised after options were weighed at the 'highest levels'.

  5. Kharge and Rahul Gandhi ask PM to scrap census caste questionnaire; BJP calls objection 'panic'

    The letter says an open question could split one caste into thousands of names and undercount backward communities.

  6. Census 2027 form with an open caste field goes live in Ladakh and snow-bound areas

    Online self-enumeration ran from 17 to 31 August; door-to-door counting in these areas was set for 1 to 30 September.

Honest gaps

What we still don't know

  • ?How open-column answers will be grouped into castes and categories, and who will decide the rules.
  • ?Whether and when an OBC population figure will be published from Census 2027.
  • ?What procedure the Centre will place before the Supreme Court on recording and verifying caste claims.
Who reported this

Sources

Left-leaning · 4Centre · 4Right-leaning · 1

9 outlets across the spectrum. Leanings are a rough guide to who reported it, not a verdict on accuracy.

  1. The HinduCensus 2027 questionnaire seeks parents’ religion, place of birth up to village level
  2. The HinduPM Modi a ‘U-turn ustad’, wants to sabotage caste census: Congress
  3. ScrollCensus: Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge urge PM Modi to cancel current caste questionnaire
  4. The HinduGovernment dropped use of OBC lists for Census as those featured ‘classes, not castes’, say officials
  5. SwarajyaCensus 2027's Open Caste Column Is Not Sabotage. It Is The Only Honest Way To Count.
  6. The Indian ExpressCensus in four poll-bound states to begin on December 1
Show all 12 sources
  1. The HinduGovernment yet to decide how open-column caste data will be sorted, tabulated
  2. LiveLawCensus 2027 : Supreme Court Seeks Centre's Response On Plea Raising Concerns Over Self-Declaration Of Caste Status
  3. ThePrintSupreme Court tells govt to respond to plea seeking clarity on caste verification SOP for 2027 Census
  4. Asianet Newsable (ANI)Caste Census row: Cong flags open-ended entries, fears data flaw
  5. NDTVCaste, Covid Vaccine Location: Centre Notifies 40 Questions For Census 2027
  6. The Times of India'Withdraw existing questionnaire': Kharge, Rahul Gandhi write to PM Modi over caste census issue
Caste census: how to count caste | Spasht