Explainer: On the method for caste enumeration in the Census 2027

An ongoing rehearsal (pre-test) for the second phase of the Population Census—running in 16 States and Union Territories from July 6 to July 20, 2026—includes an open-ended column that lets respondents record their caste. Census officials say the final method for caste enumeration will be designed after evaluating feedback from this pre-test.

Unlike the earlier practice of enumerating caste only for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Independent India has not previously counted caste-wise populations comprehensively; the last full caste enumeration was in 1931.