Caste Census: The methodology, challenges, and the road ahead | Explained
The story so far: The rehearsal or the “pre-test” of the second phase of Census, which started in 16 States and Union Territories on July
The story so far: The rehearsal or the “pre-test” of the second phase of Census, which started in 16 States and Union Territories on July 6, 2026, has an “open column” for respondents to record their castes, several officials involved in the exercise told The Hindu. The pre-test is on till July 20, 2026 and the outcome will decide how independent India enumerates caste for the first time as part of the Census exercise. Other than Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), caste-wise population has not been enumerated in Independent India, the last time such data was collected was in 1931. What is the background of caste Census? After repeatedly opposing caste enumeration, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Democratic Alliance (NDA) finally announced on April 30, 2025 that caste will be counted during Population Census 2027. Before this, the Opposition parties particularly Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had consistently demanded that caste of all people should be counted in India. The demand was also made by a few alliance partners of the BJP. Unlike the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), which was done outside the purview of the Census, this time caste will be enumerated with the second and final phase of Census, giving it a statutory backing. The SECC threw up 46 lakh caste names. What’s new about Census 2027? | The Hindu Explains What does the ongoing pre-test indicate? Though the ongoing rehearsal gives an indication of how caste is likely to be enumerated in the coming days, Census officials said the final methodology will be prepared based on the feedback received during the exercise, which concludes July 20. The ongoing pre-test exercise also allowed self-enumeration and the portal was accessible from July 1-5 only in the specific area where the rehearsal is being done.
The discourse on the methodology of caste enumeration has largely swung between either leaving an open column for caste, just as the 2011 SECC did, or preparing a list of castes for people to pick from — as the Bihar government did in its 2022-23 caste-based survey. The results of the 2011 SECC were neither released by the Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government nor by the BJP government after the latter came to power in 2014. Interestingly, the open-column methodology had resulted in the 2011 SECC returning over 46 lakh different “caste names”, largely owing to the difference in what people understand by caste. The total number of castes during the 1931 Census conducted by the British was 4,147. In 2021, the Union government informed the Supreme Court in an affidavit, “Assuming that some castes may bifurcate into sub-castes, the total number cannot be exponentially high to this extent,” adding that the data cannot be relied on for reservation in education, employment or elections to local authorities. What were the anomalies reported during 2011 SECC and how does it mirror the ongoing pre-test exercise? Officials said the SECC threw up lakhs of caste names as it was kept open ended. Respondents were asked to name their castes. For example, people wrote Gupta, Agarwal etc for Baniya caste, which increased the numbers exponentially. Though the method is not final, the pre-test is also providing the same open-ended column to respondents to record their castes. According to the latest government data, there are about 2,650 Other Backwards Classes (OBC) in the Central list, 1,170 in the Scheduled Caste category and 890 communities in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list. The State governments maintain their own OBCs list. What are the concerns regarding the methodology of caste enumeration?
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