"Government Undecided on Sorting 2027 Census Caste Data"
Open-column method
a census format letting respondents write in their own caste name instead of choosing from a list.
Post-coding
the process of merging and standardising many raw write-in caste responses into usable categories.
The Census of India is conducted under the Census Act, 1948, which places enumeration authority with the Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Caste was recorded in every colonial census from 1881 until 1931, when the exercise counted 4,147 distinct caste names, the last full caste count in Indian history. After Independence, the Constituent Assembly restricted caste enumeration to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, notified through Presidential Orders under Articles 341 and 342. Other Backward Classes were left out of the headcount altogether.
This gap forced the Mandal Commission (1980) to estimate the OBC population at 52% using the outdated 1931 figures, a number never empirically verified since. The 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) tried to fix this by asking an open-ended caste question, but the exercise returned more than 46 lakh distinct caste names. The raw data was considered too fragmented to use for policy, and successive governments never released it. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs cleared caste enumeration for the 2027 Census in April 2025, reversing decades of official reluctance, and the government again chose the open-column format over a pre-defined list.
Two broad approaches exist for enumerating caste. A pre-defined list method asks respondents to choose from a fixed set of caste names, the method Bihar and Telangana used in their state caste surveys; this produces clean, comparable data but forces the state to decide in advance which castes exist. The open-column method chosen for the 2027 Census instead lets respondents write in any caste name themselves, including a 'no-caste' option or a refusal to disclose. The stated justification is that the state should not act as an arbiter of caste identity.
The real difficulty appears after collection. Caste identity in India is both static and fluid at once. …
"Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, caste system cannot be eradicated in India." Comment.
Why is caste identity in India both fluid and static?
With reference to India's caste enumeration history, match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the code given below:
List-I (Event/Body)
A.Last comprehensive caste count in a Census
B.Mandal Commission Report
C.Socio-Economic and Caste Census
D.Cabinet approval for caste enumeration in Census 2027
List-II (Year)
1.1980
2.2011
3.1931
4.2025
Which of the following statements about the constitutional basis for identifying Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is/are correct?
1.Scheduled Castes are notified through Presidential Orders under Article 341 of the Constitution.
2.Scheduled Tribes are notified through Presidential Orders under Article 342 of the Constitution.
3.Other Backward Classes are notified for Census purposes under the same two Articles.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
With reference to caste enumeration in India, consider the following statements:
1.The 1931 Census recorded more than 4,000 distinct caste names.
2.The 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census recorded over 46 lakh distinct caste names.
3.The raw caste data collected in the 2011 SECC was released publicly by the government.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following statements about the conduct of the Census of India is/are correct?
1.The Census of India is conducted under the Census Act, 1948.
2.The Office of the Registrar General of India functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
3.The Census of India is conducted every five years.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Consider the following statements about the caste enumeration method finalised for the second phase of the 2027 Census:
1.Respondents can write in any caste name rather than choosing from a pre-defined list.
2.A 'no-caste' option is available, and respondents may also decline to disclose their caste.
3.This is the first time a caste question has appeared in India's Census since Independence.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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