[REVISION HISTORY]

India's 2027 digital census expands and faces scrutiny

Updated 14 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-09-05 08:17 UTC → 2026-09-05 15:13 UTC · added ~~removed~~

The 2027 Census, now fully digital, has expanded its scope and methodology. The government has notified 40 questions for the population enumeration phase, notably including caste enumeration for all communities for the first time since independence. The expanded questionnaire also adds 13 new questions covering Aadhaar numbers, mobile numbers, Voter IDs, passports, driving licenses, bank accounts, and COVID-19 vaccination status. As of late August 2026, the census has faced significant political and logistical challenges. Opposition leaders from the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have alleged that the questionnaire facilitates state surveillance. Critics, including Jairam Ramesh and Pinarayi Vijayan, expressed concern that questions regarding the religion and birthplace of respondents’ parents act as a “backdoor” for the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Administrative disputes have intensified regarding the collection of caste-wise data. While the central government approved caste inclusion in April 2025, disagreements surfaced between the Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI) and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment over the accuracy of meeting minutes regarding the availability of OBC lists. Officials have argued that draft minutes misrepresented the Ministry’s position regarding the National Commission for Backward Classes' OBC list. In early September 2026, the government announced it will not use existing Central and State lists of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for caste enumeration, citing concerns that these lists include broad social or occupational classes that could lead to inaccurate data. Instead, the census will provide an open column for manual identification. PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss, supported by the Indian National Congress, has urged the Centre to withdraw this decision, arguing that a manual entry field is an “unacceptable method” for ensuring accurate data in this historic census. ~~In high-altitude regions, door-to-door enumeration began on 1 September in snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to ensure collection before winter.~~ Enumeration schedules are also being finalized.

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