The upcoming Census may change India’s caste politics, shape of Parliament
The Central government on Monday issued a gazette notification for the caste census—a mega exercise which will begin from March 1, 2027. According to the notification, the census proceedings for snow-bound parts will begin on October 1, 2026.
“The reference date for the said census shall be 00.00 hours of the 1st day of March, 2027, except for the Union territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” the notification read, adding for snow-bound states and union territories, the exercise will begin at 00:00 hours of the 1st day of October, 2026.
The last Census was conducted in 2011.
Armed with digital devices, enumerators, supervisors and census functionaries will conduct the exercise in two phases – Houselisting Operation (HLO) and Population Enumeration (PE).
Under HLO, data on the housing conditions, assets and amenities of households will be collected.
Under PE, data regarding demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household will be collected.
Census politics
Initially when the Congress-led Opposition made the demand for a caste census, the ruling BJP accused it of attempting to “divide the nation on caste lines”. However, in April the Centre announced the exercise with Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) clearing caste enumeration as a part of the upcoming Census.
In the upcoming Census, the counting of castes will go beyond the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, thereby opening new possibilities in India’s caste-based politics and perhaps also a new shape to the Parliament.
Using aids like mobile apps, online self-enumeration and near-real-time monitoring, the upcoming Census will be the first digital census in India’s history,
It will also be the first time since 1931 when caste data for all communities will be collected.
Caste enumeration was a regular feature of census exercises during British rule from 1881 to 1931. However, after Independence the government decided to discontinue the practice. In the first Census of independent India in 1951 only SCs and STs were noted.
