(file photo) The questionnaire tries to capture employment-related data, like whether a person worked during the last year, category of economic activity, occupation, nature of industry, trade or service, class of worker and non-economic activity.  | Photo Credit: R_K_Nithin

Caste enumeration will now take place for the first time since independence, as the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday notified 40 questions which would be asked during the exercise to record population for Census 2027. Caste has been added to question number 10 that seeks to know whether a person is an Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST).

Until the 2011 Census, the exercise included the systematic enumeration of only SCs and STs while caste enumeration for other communities was not part of the post-Independence Census. The decision to include caste enumeration in Census 2027 was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) in April 30, 2025.

The government has added new questions --such as father’s & mother’s particulars, total number of bank accounts, place of Covid vaccination, Aadhaar no, mobile no, voter ID, and passport no -- for posing before every person through the schedule of Census 2027. As per the notification issued by the Registrar General, India, the information to be collected also, includes name of the person, relationship with the head of household, sex, date of birth and age, marital status, age at marriage and spouse’s name, nationality, mother tongue, religion, literacy, education, migration, and other demographic parameters.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 8 of the Census Act, 1948 (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, pertaining to the items enumerated below, for collecting information through the Household Schedule in connection with the Census of India 2027,” reads the notification.

The questionnaire tries to capture employment-related data, like whether a person worked during the last year, category of economic activity, occupation, nature of industry, trade or service, class of worker and non-economic activity. It will also fill information on employment status—specifically whether an individual is seeking or available for work—as well as details regarding their commuting.

The move would also trying to ascertain migration of population as seeks to gather information on birthplace, place of last residence, reason for migration, duration of stay at the present village or town since the last migration and permanent residential address.

To measure key demographic indicators like fertility, infant/child mortality, and population growth patterns across the country, by way of the enumeration exercise, information will be collected on the number of children surviving, number of children ever born alive and children born alive during the last year for women in specified categories.

Census 2027 will be conducted in two distinct phases: Phase I covers House Listing and Housing Census, followed by Phase II for Population Enumeration, which will collect comprehensive demographic, socio-economic, and caste data. As India’s first digital census, data collection will be managed through modern digital tools alongside an optional self-enumeration facility for citizens.

Published on August 14, 2026