New Delhi: The Centre has notified a 40-question questionnaire for the population enumeration phase of Census 2027, marking a significant change in India’s decennial census as caste details will be collected for the first time as part of the exercise.
According to a notification issued by the Registrar General of India, the questionnaire will cover a wide range of demographic, social, educational and economic details, including caste, Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, religion, nationality, marital status, disability, mother tongue and literacy.
The caste question is particularly significant as the government has decided not to provide respondents with a predefined list of castes. Instead, enumerators are expected to record the caste name as stated by the respondent. The decision to include caste enumeration was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on April 30, 2025.
40 Questions to Cover Extensive Demographic Data
The population enumeration will collect information about an individual’s education, including attendance at educational institutions, highest qualification and academic stream. Employment-related questions will cover occupation, economic activity, industry, trade or service, worker category and availability for work.
The census will also gather migration-related information, including birthplace, previous place of residence, reason for migration, duration of stay and permanent residential address.
Questions relating to women will seek information on surviving children, children from the current marriage and children born alive during the preceding year.
The questionnaire will also record the place of COVID-19 vaccination, along with information on bank accounts and possession of documents such as Aadhaar, Voter ID and Passport. Respondents will also be asked whether they possess a driving licence.
Fully Digital Census
Census 2027 will be conducted through a fully digital enumeration process, representing another major technological shift in India’s census operations. The government has also provided an option for self-enumeration from August 17 to 31 ahead of house-to-house population enumeration.
Population enumeration will begin on September 1 in Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, with the exercise scheduled to continue there until September 30. Enumeration in the remaining parts of the country will take place next year.
The first phase, involving house listing and housing census, began on April 16 in several states and Union territories and is scheduled to continue until September 30.
The decennial census, originally scheduled for 2021, was postponed following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Union Cabinet has approved ₹11,718 crore for conducting Census 2027, which is expected to provide the government with comprehensive and updated demographic data for policy planning and administration.
