No Caste Certificate, Parents' Birth Proof: Census Phase 2 Begins August 17 In J&K, Himachal

Published 4 August 2026 · local

No Caste Certificate, Parents' Birth Proof: Census Phase 2 Begins August 17 In J&K, Himachal Published By, Last Updated: August 04, 2026, 07:34 IST The

No Caste Certificate, Parents' Birth Proof: Census Phase 2 Begins August 17 In J&K, Himachal Published By, Last Updated: August 04, 2026, 07:34 IST The phase will, for the first time since 1931, include caste enumeration and is also expected to collect respondents' parents' date and place of birth. Enumerators conduct house listing and housing census as part of Census of India 2027, in New Delhi. File pic/PTI The Centre has notified the schedule for the second phase of Census 2027, the population enumeration exercise, in Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, with self-enumeration set to begin on August 17 and house-to-house enumeration from September 1. The phase will, for the first time since 1931, include caste enumeration and is also expected to collect respondents’ parents’ date and place of birth, besides passport details where available and Aadhaar numbers on a voluntary basis, according to The Times Of India. A gazette notification issued by Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said population enumeration in the four northern regions will be conducted from September 1 to 30, followed by a revisional round from October 1 to 5. “For the conduct of the above Census, there shall be an option for self-enumeration from August 17 to 31 just before the start of house-to-house population enumeration," the notification said.

The reference date for the Census in these areas will be 00.00 hours on October 1, 2026. The second phase of the Census for the rest of the country is expected to begin next year. The population enumeration phase will mark the first nationwide caste count since the 1931 Census, after the Union Cabinet approved caste enumeration on April 30 last year. The Census itself will be conducted in two stages – the ongoing House Listing and Housing Census (HLO), followed by the Population Enumeration phase. No Caste Certificate Required The caste will be recorded “as declared by the respondent", according to TOI. While respondents belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be able to select their community from a drop-down menu containing the SC/ST list of the state where they are being enumerated, the “caste" field will apply only to those in the non-SC and non-ST categories. Officials said the spelling of the declared caste will be recorded exactly as provided by the respondent, and no document or caste certificate will be required to verify SC, ST or caste status. Also Read: A ‘New’ Delhi Emerging: Census Signals Population At 2.3 Crore, But The Real Story Is The Explosion In Households An officer told TOI that the self-declaration format used during the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census had resulted in more than 45,000 caste entries, making the data difficult to process.