Caste To Covid Vaccines: What Census 2027 Will Ask Every Household

The Union Government on Friday notified 40 questions for the Population Enumeration phase of Census 2027. This historic move marks the first time since independence that caste, excluding Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, will be officially enumerated. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued these directives under the Census Act, 1948, as The Hindu reported.

The exercise begins on August 17, 2026 in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. This rollout starts much before the rest of the country, where the exercise will take place in February 2027. The notification authorises census officers to collect information through the household schedule from every person residing in their assigned areas.

Methodology

Question number 10 on the Census schedule reads “Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Caste.” Census officials stated that the enumerator will record the caste as declared by the respondent in an open column.

This methodology follows a pre-test rehearsal conducted from July 1 to 20, 2026 across 16 States and Union Territories. During this trial, respondents recorded their castes in an open column, as The Hindu reported earlier. The methodology is likely to be retained in the final form.

Expanded Data Scope

Registrar General Mritunjay Kumar Narayan notified the questions that census officials are authorised to ask during the Census of India 2027. The notification expands the scope of data collection to include details such as Aadhaar numbers, mobile numbers, voter IDs, bank accounts and Covid-19 vaccination information, wherever available.

The questionnaire will seek information on education and skills, including literacy and digital literacy status, attendance in educational institutions and the highest level of education attained. Language-related information, including mother tongue and other known languages, will also be recorded.

Respondents will be asked whether they worked during the previous year, their occupation, industry or service sector, class of worker and whether they are seeking employment. Information on travel to the workplace and migration-related data, including place of birth, previous place of residence, reasons for migration and duration of stay, will also be collected.

For women who are currently married, widowed, divorced or separated, officials will collect information on the number of children surviving, children ever born alive and births during the previous year.