The decision to include caste data in the upcoming 2027 Census has sparked significant political debate, as the government has chosen to implement an “open-ended question” format instead of a drop-down menu. This move has drawn criticism from opposition leaders in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, who argue that effective social justice initiatives require precise data.
Reports from The Indian Express indicate that two prominent government bodies involved in the census process—the Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI) and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE)—have faced internal disagreements. Sources reveal that during a crucial meeting on June 1, officials from the Ministry expressed their readiness to provide a list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) maintained by the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) for the caste enumeration process. However, this offer was not accurately captured in the initial minutes drafted by the Registrar General’s office.
After some pushback, the Registrar General’s office agreed to a revised version of the minutes. The meeting, chaired by Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, included various officials, such as Additional RGI Sunil Kumar and Joint Secretary of the Ministry Shailendra Kumar.
On June 8, the Registrar General’s office released a note summarizing the meeting, which contended that there was no constitutional requirement to maintain a caste list, thus making it unavailable. According to this note, the Ministry indicated it holds the officially recognized lists of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Central List of Other Backward Classes but noted that the absence of a comprehensive caste list would hinder the enumeration in Census 2027.
Ministry officials expressed concerns to The Indian Express, describing the wording of the note as a potential “trap,” stating that it suggested the responsibility for not proceeding with a pre-defined list lay with them. On June 11, the Ministry submitted an amended version of the note, clarifying that, in compliance with constitutional mandates, it maintains the lists of SCs and OBCs but does not hold a separate list of castes. The note stated that the lists of SCs and OBCs could be shared if necessary.
By June 30, it was reported that the Registrar General’s office accepted the revised documentation. However, neither RGI Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan nor Ministry Secretary Sudhansh Pant responded to requests for comments from The Indian Express.
A government notification issued last month announced that the nationwide population census, which will include caste enumeration, is scheduled for February of next year. In regions with challenging weather conditions, the process began on September 1 to avoid complications during winter months.
The government contends that an open-ended question format is essential to ensure the state does not dictate caste identities. Nonetheless, this approach raises a significant challenge, reminiscent of the complexities faced during the 2011 census: how to transform millions of individual responses into a coherent and standardised caste dataset without influencing the respondents’ answers.
Ministry sources predict that the upcoming 2027 enumeration may replicate the shortcomings of the previous effort, which cost approximately Rs 4,900 crore. In 2011, 46.7 lakh unique caste names were reported, a dramatic increase from the 4,147 recorded in 1931.
The Census traditionally employs drop-down menus for the listed SCs and STs. Although the data from the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) was published by the Ministries of Rural and Urban Development in 2016, the caste data was notably excluded. This raw caste data was later provided to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which appointed an expert committee under former NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson Arvind Panagariya for classification purposes, but the results have yet to be disclosed to the public.
The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) approved the caste enumeration for the 2027 Census on April 30, 2025, marking a significant shift in the government’s stance regarding this long-standing demand. The previous UPA government had initially pledged to include caste enumeration in the 2011 Census, subsequently establishing a Group of Ministers (GoM) to explore the issue. Following the GoM’s recommendations, the Union Cabinet resolved in September 2010 to conduct a separate SECC.
However, in affidavits submitted to the Supreme Court on September 21 and December 14, 2021, the government asserted that the data gathered during the 2011 SECC was flawed and could not be used. On December 15, 2021, the Supreme Court acknowledged the practical shortcomings highlighted in the affidavit, stating, “The fact remains that the affidavit filed before this Court emphatically states that the data as collated is not accurate and is unusable for any purpose whatsoever.”
