New Delhi. The next census of the country is no longer going to be limited to just counting the population. The Central Government has notified 40 questions to be asked to the people during Census 2027. These include information related to caste, religion, education, employment and migration to mobile number, Aadhaar, Voter ID, passport and Covid-19 vaccination. The special thing is that for the first time in the history of the census, detailed details of caste will be recorded.
With this decision of the government, Congress has raised questions regarding the process of caste census. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the system of not providing the list of castes and recording the answers given by the people in the same form raises serious doubts on the intentions of the government.
Caste will be asked, but there will be no ready list?
According to the order of Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, census workers will ask people whether they belong to Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) and what is their caste. According to sources, there is no possibility of any ready list of castes being given in the questionnaire. That is, the respondent will tell his caste and the enumerator will record the answer given by him. The decision to include caste-based enumeration in the census was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 30, 2025.
Congress said- serious doubts on the intentions of the government
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh raised questions on the process of caste enumeration and said that it was expected that a state-wise list of castes would be prepared like the caste surveys conducted in Bihar and Telangana. After this, the relevant option is marked according to the answer of the respondent. According to Ramesh, if this does not happen, serious questions arise regarding the process of caste related data and the intentions of the government.
What will be asked about you in the census?
The 40 questions of the census include many information related to the social, economic and personal status of the people. Mainly among these-
- Marital status and age at marriage
- Spouse's name and nationality
- religion and caste
- SC/ST status
- parent information
- disability
- Mother tongue and other known languages
- Literacy and Digital Literacy
- Highest level and subject of education
- Employment, occupation and economic activity
- Type of industry, business or service
- Birthplace and previous residence
- reason for migration
- Length of stay at current location
- permanent residential address
That is, this time in the census, not only the number of population, but also comprehensive data related to the socio-economic status of the people will be collected.
Information about Aadhaar, mobile and bank accounts also
During the census, information related to digital identity and banking will also be asked from the people. This includes information related to mobile number, Aadhaar number, voter ID and passport. People will also be asked about the total number of bank accounts they have. Apart from this, they will also be asked whether they have a driving license or not. Information about where the Covid-19 vaccination was given has also been included in the questionnaire.
Women will have special questions regarding children
Information will be taken from currently married, widowed, divorced and separated women about the number of their living children. They will also be asked about the number of children from the current marriage and the number of children born alive in the last one year.
Census will be digital, option of self-enumeration will be available
According to the government, there are preparations to conduct Census 2027 completely digitally. Before starting the door-to-door population census, people will also be given the option to fill their information i.e. self-enumeration. This facility will be available from 17th to 31st August.
Counting will start from September 1 in snowy areas
The population census will be held from September 1 to 30 in Ladakh and non-snow covered areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Population census in the rest of the country will be started next year. The first phase of the census involves preparation of household list and counting of houses. In many states and union territories, census workers have been going door-to-door since April 16 to collect information like household amenities, head of the family and house ownership.
Census 2021 was postponed due to Corona
The census to be held every ten years was proposed in the year 2021, but it was postponed due to the Corona epidemic. Now the Central Government has sanctioned Rs 11,718 crore for conducting the census. This time's census is considered important because for the first time, information like caste details, education, employment, migration, digital literacy and Covid vaccination will be recorded together. At the same time, Congress's questions regarding the list of castes have brought the census process into the center of political debate.
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