Caste Enumeration (Governance)
Caste Enumeration (Governance)
Why In News:
With about six months to go before the nationwide Population Enumeration (PE) phase, the government is finalising the method for recording caste details for the first time since 1931.
A pre-test rehearsal of the PE phase was conducted between 1 and 20 July 2026 across 16 States and Union Territories, and it used an 'open column' format.
Source: The Indian Express, Page 1, 22 July 2026, 'Census: 6 months to go, Govt explores how to count caste';
Structure of Census 2027
Two-phase exercise: Phase I is House Listing and Housing Operations (HLO), and Phase II is Population Enumeration (PE), the same broad structure followed since 1961.
First digital census: Census 2027 will be India's first digital census, using a mobile app for data collection and a central portal for monitoring, with a Census-as-a-Service (CaaS) model for delivering machine-readable data to ministries.
Legal basis: The exercise is conducted under the Census Act, 1948, with the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RGI) as the nodal authority, and the government's intent notified through a Gazette notification.
Caste Census
A caste census refers to the systematic collection of data on individuals’ caste identities as part of a nationwide population census.
Caste enumeration was a regular feature of censuses during British rule (1881–1931).
The 1941 Census also collected caste data, but it was not published due to World War II.
Since the 1951 Census, caste enumeration has been discontinued for all groups except Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
This has resulted in a lack of reliable nationwide data on Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and other caste groups.
In 1961, the central government allowed states to conduct their own surveys to identify and list OBCs.
The most recent large-scale effort was the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011, which collected data on household socio-economic status along with caste information.
Key Facts for Prelims
Census is a Union subject: Entry 69 of the Union List (Seventh Schedule) empowers Parliament to legislate on census matters; conducting the Census is thus the exclusive responsibility of the Union government.
RGI: The Registrar General of India, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, also functions as the Census Commissioner and is responsible for planning, coordinating, and conducting the Census.
Last full Census: The last complete Census was held in 2011; Census 2021 was deferred indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making Census 2027 the first Census in 16 years.
Periodicity: The Census has been conducted every 10 years since 1872 (the first synchronous all-India Census was in 1881), making Census 2027 the 16th Census overall and the 8th since Independence.