Census 2027: Caste, Covid-19 vaccination status among 40 questions notified by Centre

The Census 2027 will ask respondents if they belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, and will also include an open-ended question for other communities about the caste that they belong to.

This will be the first time in independent India that caste will be enumerated across communities. Until now, Census exercises only recorded the population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Among the 40 questions notified on Friday are also those seeking information on the place where respondents received their Covid-19 vaccination, the total number of bank accounts they hold and digital literacy. The form also seeks information on Aadhaar numbers, mobile numbers, passport numbers and voter IDs.

The population enumeration phase of the census will take place from September 1 to September 30 in Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, according to a gazette notification issued earlier this month. The online self-enumeration window for the second phase will be open from August 17 to August 31.

It will be conducted in other parts of the country in February 2027.

Scroll had reported on July 20 that during a trial for the second phase of the census, the government tested an open column to collect caste details from respondents other than those belonging to...

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