When and how will the caste census be conducted in the country? These 2 big options are in front of Modi government, stuck due to RSS’s objection When and how will the caste census be conducted in the country? These two big options are in front of Modi government, stuck due to objection of RSS – ..

By Samira Vishwas On Jul 22, 2026

Now only six months are left for the much-awaited national population census to begin across the country. In such a situation, the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RGI) is engaged in extensive brainstorming regarding the exact methodology and technical method of conducting the caste census. The decision to include caste data in the upcoming census has been taken, but the central government is facing major administrative, practical and policy challenges regarding how to record it on the ground.

These two main options are before the government According to sources, two main models for collecting caste data are currently being considered before the Home Ministry and RGI:

Open-Ended Format: Under this system, citizens will have complete freedom to speak and register the name of their caste.
Digital Drop-Down Menu: Under this, one will be given the option to choose one’s caste from a fixed digital list of castes already recognized and notified by the Central and State Governments.

Bitter lessons learned from 2011 social and caste census The biggest risk of adopting an open-ended format is that it may recreate a chaotic situation like the ‘Social, Economic and Caste Census’ (SECC) of 2011. In the last comprehensive caste census of 1931, a total of 4,147 castes were recorded across the country. But in 2011, when people were allowed to register their own castes, due to spelling mistakes, regional dialects and local surnames, there were more than 46.7 lakh different caste names in the records. There was such a huge discrepancy in the data that the government had to ban the publication of these raw figures.

RSS expressed strong objection to the second option Another option is to create a unified drop-down menu combining the official lists of OBCs and other castes of the central and state governments. Currently the drop-down option is available only for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) through the Census App. However, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has expressed its theoretical and practical objections regarding this new drop-down model.

RSS believes that most of the currently existing caste lists were created by the British for their administrative convenience and to divide the society. If today’s census also depends on the same old lists, it will further strengthen that social system. The RSS’s stance is that caste identity in India has always been local and dynamic.

Current status of caste census Caste census status as per Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and official sources:

Government’s intention: Despite all the policy differences and technical challenges, the Central Government is completely clear that the caste census will be conducted.
Technical Testing: Taking lessons from the experiences of 2011, the RGI office is testing several new digital technologies to ensure that there are no administrative lapses in data.
Time Limit: There is about 6 months left for the census process to begin, before which the final model and guidelines will be decided.