Explained: Why Rahul, Kharge want Census 2027 questionnaire scrapped and why question on caste is controversial

Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Census 2027, demanding that the government scrap the existing questionnaire for it.

The two leaders have urged the government to formulate a new set of questions after consulting political parties, experts, and the general public.

Kharge and Gandhi said they do not accept the Census 2027 being conducted in the current manner and urged the government to take a cue from the caste surveys done in Telangana and Bihar.

What is the controversy?

On 14 August, the Centre notified 40 questions, with caste and place of COVID-19 vaccination among them, to be asked of respondents during the population enumeration phase of the Census, set to begin on 1 September in snow-bound areas.

In the rest of the country, the population enumeration (PE) will begin next year. This will be the first time caste details will be collected as part of the Census.

Question number 10 in the notification asks for a person's caste, the first time since 1931 that the Census will record it for every Indian. The way the question is asked has sparked a row.

The Opposition has flagged that the questionnaire notified on August 14 uses open-ended caste entries instead of a pre-compiled list, which it says will distort demographic data. The BJP has dismissed the charge as opposition "panic".

The Congress leaders said the open-ended format for caste entry, instead of a structured menu, risks data inaccuracy.

Briefing reporters on the letter written in Hindi by Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Gandhi on 20 August, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the government's current efforts towards a caste census are just a "whitewash".

Ramesh noted that this is the third letter written by the Congress leadership to Modi over the issue, but they have not received any reply.

In their letter, Kharge and Gandhi said social justice policies in India cannot be effectively implemented without accurate data and a precise assessment of the numerical strength and socio-economic status of various castes is possible only if the caste enumeration is conducted correctly.

"Your government has opted for an open-ended question format to record caste details in the census, which is misleading. Under this method, whatever name an individual provides for their caste will be recorded as it is," the leaders said in their letter to Modi.

Why the objection over question on caste?

In India, the same caste is known by different names, sub-castes, and linguistic variations across different regions, Congress president Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi pointed out.

Consequently, if members of the same caste are recorded under different names during the Census, a single caste could end up being fragmented into thousands of distinct names, they argued.

This would result in a list of hundreds of thousands of caste names, rendering the entire dataset obtained from the caste census useless, Kharge and Gandhi argued.

"If the actual population of a community is not accurately recorded, any assessment of its status will also be flawed. This will disadvantage backward, extremely backward, and other marginalised communities, and will impact decisions related to education, employment, welfare schemes, and social justice," Kharge and Gandhi said.

Most importantly, this approach will fail to reveal the size of the OBC population in India, as the term "Backward Class" is not even included in this census, they said.

Absence of a dedicated ‘OBC’ column

So, the actual issue is about the absence of a dedicated "OBC" column as a dropdown option. This way, no clear number of the OBC population may be arrived at, argue Opposition parties.

This means, for a citizen who is neither SC nor ST, the caste field is an open column that the person would fill. The enumerators will record the caste name based on the declaration in the apps being used during the digital census.

SCs and STs have been counted all along, as that's enshrined in the Constitution, but not all castes. But OBCs have never been counted.

"An easy solution for this already exists: a drop-down list of castes should be created. This is the method adopted for the enumeration of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Such a list can be easily compiled based on existing government lists such as those for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes and the list from the Anthropological Survey of India," the two leaders said in their letter to Modi.

This same method was employed in the caste surveys conducted in Telangana and Bihar, they pointed out.

"We do not accept the caste census being conducted in the current manner. The government should scrap the existing questionnaire and formulate a new one after consulting political parties, experts, and the general public; this would ensure that the true numbers of every caste and community are revealed, making the caste census accurate, meaningful, and beneficial," the opposition leaders said.

They enclosed copies of the caste list from the Telangana Caste Survey (2024) and of the caste list from the Bihar Caste Survey (2022) with the letter.

Congress leader Ramesh alleged that it is a form of self-sabotage, which will not ensure social justice.

This is the third letter from the Congress party to the prime minister on the caste census.

"Unfortunately, neither of the earlir two letters received any response from the prime minister, the Prime Minister's Office, the home minister or any official. This is the third letter, and this time, both Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge have signed it. The subject remains the same that the Congress party has been raising for the past three years," he said.

The history of caste census in India?

A caste census means collecting caste-based data during the census. The data provides details on the distribution of caste groups, their socio-economic conditions, educational status, and other related factors.

The idea behind the caste census is to include questions about caste during the ordinary census exercise.

Caste enumeration was a regular feature of census exercises during British rule from 1881 to 1931. However, with the first census of independent India in 1951, the government discontinued the practice.

After India gained independence, the government classified citizens into four broad groups based on social and educational criteria: Scheduled Tribes (ST), Scheduled Castes (SC), Other Backwards Classes (OBC), and the General category.

But the data gathered during censuses in India since 1951 included the numbers of individuals belonging to the SCs and STs, as well as religious denominations such as Hindus and Muslims.

Members of caste groups other than SCs and STs were not counted. By 1961, however, the Union government had allowed states to conduct their own surveys and compile state-specific lists of OBCs if they wished.

The most recent caste data available is from the 1931 Census, which was conducted before independence. The 1941 Census, which was taken during World War II, also collected data on caste, but it was never released.

Full list of 40 questions

1. Name of the person

2. Relationship to head

3. Sex

4. Date of Birth and Age (in completed years)

5. Current Marital Status

6. Age at Marriage (in completed years)

7. Spouse Name

8. Nationality as declared

9. Religion.

10. Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Caste

11. Father's Particulars

12. Mother's Particulars

13. Disability

14. Mother Tongue and other languages known

15. Literacy and digital literacy status

16. Status of attendance in educational institution

17. Highest educational level attained and Stream/Discipline

18. Worked any time during last year

19. Category of economic activity

20. Occupation

21. Nature of industry, trade or service

22. Class of worker

23. Non-economic activity (for marginal, semi-marginal and non-worker)

24. Seeking or available for work (for marginal, semi-marginal and non-worker)

25. Travel to place of work

26. Birthplace

27. Place of Inst residence

28. Reason for migration

29. Duration of stay in this village/town since last migration

30. Permanent Residential Address

31. Number of children surviving at present (for currently married, widowed, divorced and separated women only)

32. Number of children ever born alive (for currently married, widowed, divorced and separated women only)

33. Number of children born alive during last one year (for currently married women only)

34. Place of Covid-19 Vaccination

35. Total number of Bank Accounts

36. Mobile Number (if available)

37. Aadhaar Number (if available)

38. Voter ID Number (if available)

39. Passport Number (if Indian Passport holder)

40. Availability of Driving Licence

Which states have done Caste Census in India?

The Modi government's push for caste enumeration in the upcoming Census follows the caste surveys conducted by at least three states: Bihar, Telangana, and Karnataka.

Bihar conducted the survey and published the data in 2023, when Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister, was the head of the JDU-RJD-Congress government. Telangana and Karnataka are both Congress-ruling states.

The Congress government in Telangana released its Socio Economic, Educational, Employment, Political, and Caste survey report in February 2024.

The Karnataka caste survey report, or the Socio-Economic and Education Survey, was commissioned during CM Siddaramaiah’s first term in 2015. However, the report was submitted to him only on 29 February 2025. It was finally tabled before the Cabinet of CM Siddaramaiah on 11 April 2025.

The BJP response

The BJP said the decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census reflects the Modi administration's commitment to social justice.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that the Congress failed to conduct a caste census during its decades in power and argued that its current reaction stems from "panic and consternation" as the Modi government prepares to execute the count.

(With agency inputs)