Cong questions Modi govt’s intent on caste census, seeks consultations

The Congress on Monday questioned the Modi government’s intentions on conducting a caste census, citing ambiguity in the houselisting and housing census questionnaire, and demanded that the Centre hold consultations with political parties, state governments and civil society organisations before finalising the details of the caste enumeration exercise.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said Phase I of the long-delayed Census 2027 — the houselisting and housing census — is scheduled to be conducted between April and September 2026, while Phase II, the population enumeration, will be held in early 2027.

“This is the Houselisting and Housing Census. Phase II of Census 2027 — the population enumeration — is scheduled for September 2026 in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Ladakh and the snowbound areas of Jammu and Kashmir. In the rest of the country, it will be conducted in February 2027,” Ramesh said.

In a post on X, the Congress leader recalled that on 30 April 2025, the Centre had announced that caste enumeration would be included in Census 2027, marking a reversal of its earlier position.

“The Modi government had consistently rejected the idea of a caste census. This was evident in its reply in the Lok Sabha on 20 July 2021 and in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on 21 September 2021,” Ramesh said.

He also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks during a television interview on 28 April 2024, when he had accused those demanding a caste census of having an “urban Naxal mindset”.

“Clearly, the prime minister was forced to capitulate and agree to the widespread demand for a caste census, which was consistently articulated by the Indian National Congress under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi,” Ramesh claimed.

Raising concerns over the census questionnaire notified by the government last week, Ramesh said Question 12 in the houselisting and housing census schedule asks whether the head of a household belongs to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or ‘Other’ categories, without explicitly mentioning Other Backward Classes (OBCs) or general categories.

“Since caste enumeration is to be part of Census 2027, Question 12, as currently formulated, raises serious questions about the Modi government’s true intentions and its commitment to a comprehensive, fair and nationwide caste census,” he said.

The Congress, he added, now calls upon the Centre to initiate immediate dialogue with political parties, state governments and civil society organisations before finalising the modalities of caste enumeration.

Ramesh pointed out that such consultations were integral to the Socio-Economic, Educational, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) survey conducted by the Telangana government in 2025, which he described as one of the most comprehensive efforts to gather caste-wise data on education, employment, income and political participation.

“These dimensions are essential for ensuring greater economic and social justice,” he said.

The Centre on Thursday notified 33 questions to be asked during the first phase of Census 2027, beginning 1 April. According to the gazette notification issued by Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, enumerators will collect information on housing conditions, ownership status, access to basic amenities, types of fuel and vehicles owned, and details of the household head.

Officials will also record whether the head of the household belongs to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or other communities. The houselisting operation will be conducted over a 30-day period specified by each state and Union Territory between April 1 and September 30, with an option for self-enumeration in the 15 days preceding the exercise.

The Census 2027, estimated to cost Rs 11,718 crore, will be conducted in two phases. The decennial exercise, originally scheduled for 2021, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government has said caste data will be captured electronically during the population enumeration phase. The last comprehensive caste count was conducted between 1881 and 1931, with caste excluded from all censuses after Independence.

Census 2027 will be India’s first fully digital census, with data collected by around 30 lakh enumerators using mobile applications on Android and iOS platforms. According to Census 2011, India’s population stood at 1,210.19 million, comprising 51.54 per cent males and 48.46 per cent females.