Caste Census: Methodology, Challenges and the Road Ahead

Census Commissioners during a door-to-door digital mapping survey for the census in Jahangir Puri area of New Delhi. | Photo credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

Story so far: The exam or “preliminary exam” of the second phase of the census, which began in 16 states and union territories on July 6, 2026, has an “open column” for respondents to record their castes, several officials involved in the exercise told The Hindu. The preliminary test runs until 20 July 2026 and the result will decide how Independent India enumerates the caste for the first time in the census. Apart from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), the caste population was not enumerated in Independent India; the last time such data was collected was in 1931.

After repeatedly opposing the enumeration of caste, Bharatiya Janata Party The (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) finally announced on 30 April 2025 that caste would be enumerated during the 2027 census. Prior to this, opposition parties, particularly Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has consistently demanded that the caste of all people should be counted in India.

Published – July 7, 2026 12:23 PM IST