Archive · 6 Sep 2026
Congress Seeks Verified State Caste Lists for 2027 Census
The Congress wants India’s 2027 census to record people’s castes accurately.
Its spokesperson, Ragini Nayak, said people should choose from verified state-wise lists.
She worries that typing caste names freely could create many spellings for the same community.
That could make the final information confusing or unreliable.
Congress says accurate data is needed for fair representation and decisions about reservations.
Nayak pointed to Telangana as an example of collecting caste and socio-economic information.
She also asked the government to discuss the census questions with parties, experts and citizens.
Congress said it would continue demanding a transparent census for disadvantaged communities.
Congress spokesperson Ragini Nayak demanded verified state-wise lists of SC, ST, OBC and general-category communities for the 2027 caste census.
Nayak warned that freely entered caste names could produce different spellings, names and sub-castes, making the data unreliable.
She said Rahul Gandhi’s pressure led the government to announce the 2027 caste census, after earlier refusing the exercise.
Congress proposed digital state-wise dropdown lists based on caste classifications already held by central and state governments.
Nayak cited Telangana’s collection and publication of caste and socio-economic data for around 3.55 crore people as an example.
- Who
- Congress national spokesperson Ragini Nayak and the Congress party.
- What
- Congress demanded verified state-wise caste lists and a transparent, accurate caste census.
- When
- The demand was made on Saturday; the census is scheduled for 2027.
- Where
- At a press conference in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
- Why
- Congress says verified lists are needed to prevent unreliable data and support fair representation, social justice, reservations and policy decisions.
- Census year
- 2027
- Congress spokesperson
- Ragini Nayak
- Requested categories
- Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and general-category communities
- Main concern
- Freely entered caste names could create inconsistent names, spellings and sub-categories.
- Proposed solution
- A verified, state-wise caste dropdown list in the digital census.
- Telangana example
- Caste-wise and socio-economic data was collected and published for around 3.55 crore people.
- Consultation request
- Nayak urged consultation with political parties, experts and citizens before finalising the questionnaire.