Census 2027 to collect caste details for first time; Centre notifies 40 questions

The Centre on Friday notified 40 questions, including for the first time queries on caste, to be asked of respondents during the population enumeration phase of the Census, set to begin from September 1 in snow-bound areas, a government order said.

The order from Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan notifies questions such as whether the person belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe and their caste.

The population enumeration in Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, will take place from September 1 to 30, according to a gazette notification issued earlier this month.

"For the conduct of the above Census, there shall be an option for self-enumeration from August 17 to 31 just before the start of house-to-house population enumeration," it said.

In the rest of the country, the population enumeration (PE) will begin next year.

This will be the first time when caste details will be collected as part of the Census.

The questionnaire is unlikely to carry a list of castes, and the responses will be recorded as shared by respondents, sources said.

The decision to include caste enumeration was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on April 30 last year.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 8 of the Census Act, 1948 (Act 37 of 1948), the Central Government hereby instructs and directs that the census officers may, within the limits of the local area for which they have been respectively appointed, ask all such questions of all persons residing within such limits, subject to the items enumerated below, for collecting information through the Household Schedule in connection with the Census of India 2027," a notification from Registrar General of India said.

The respondents will be asked for personal details, such as marital status, age at marriage, spouse name, nationality, religion, Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST), caste, particulars of parents, disability, mother tongue, and other languages known, literacy, and digital literacy status, among others.

The biggest headcount of the world will be a totally digital enterprise. 

Respondents will also be asked for attendance in an educational institution, highest educational level, stream, discipline, if they worked at any time during the last year, category of economic activity, occupation, nature of industry, trade or service, class of worker and if engaged in non-economic activity (for marginal, semi-marginal and non-worker).

Whether they are available for work (for marginal, semi-marginal and non-worker) and if they travel to their place of work will also be part of the questionnaire.

The enumerators will also ask for the birthplace of respondents, place of last residence, reason for migration, duration of stay in this village/town since last migration, and permanent residential address, it said.

Currently married, widowed, divorced and separated women will be asked for the number of children surviving at present, the number of children in the current marriage, and the number of children born alive in the last one year.

The respondents will also be asked about the place of Covid-19 vaccination, total number of bank accounts, mobile number, Aadhaar Number, Voter ID number, Passport number, and whether they possess a driving licence, it said.

The first phase -- house listing and housing census (HLO) -- is on till September 30.

Field visits for the housing listing and housing census began on April 16 in several states and union territories.

Enumerators are listing all structures, houses and households across the country to create a foundation for population enumeration.

During the housing listing operations, enumerators physically visit each house and building and ask respondents 33 questions regarding the basic facilities in their homes, the details of the head of the household such as name and sex, and ownership status.

The decadal exercise, scheduled for 2021, was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Union Cabinet has approved Rs 11,718 crore to carry out Census.