Census 2027 | Caste methodology yet to be decided, clarity likely by July

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) has yet to finalize the methodology for caste enumeration in the upcoming 2027 census. Opposition parties, such as the Congress and Samajwadi Party, have questioned the government's commitment to a comprehensive caste count, citing the absence of an expanded caste column in the first phase questionnaire. The final questionnaire for caste enumeration is expected to be released in September, when the second phase (PE) will begin in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The government has stated that this will be the 16th Census and the first in independent India to count all castes, other than Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).