Overview
- Opposition leaders flagged Question 12 in the houselisting schedule, which lists Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or ‘Others’ without explicit OBC or general options.
- The Home Ministry issued a rebuttal stating caste enumeration will occur in the second phase of Census 2027 and accused critics of spreading confusion.
- The Congress requested an urgent meeting with the Registrar General and Census Commissioner to discuss methodology, definitions and safeguards for caste data.
- Government sources say the caste-enumeration methodology is not final yet, with preparatory work for the population-enumeration phase likely by July and final details closer to fieldwork.
- Census 2027 will run in two phases with houselisting from April–September 2026 and population enumeration in September 2026 for select snowbound areas and February 2027 elsewhere, capturing caste data electronically.