Archive · 14 Aug 2026
Centre notifies 40 Census 2027 questions including caste, Covid vaccine
The government of India is getting ready to count every person living in the country.
This big counting job is called the Census.
The next Census is called Census 2027.
The government has decided on 40 questions that people will be asked.
Some of the questions ask which community, or caste, a person belongs to, and whether they belong to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe.
People will also be asked where they got their Covid vaccine.
This will be the first time that caste details are collected as part of the Census.
The counting will start on September 1 in very cold, snowy places like Ladakh.
People in those areas can fill in their answers themselves from August 17 to 31.
In the rest of the country, the counting will begin next year.
The Centre notified 40 questions for the population enumeration phase of Census 2027, including caste, SC/ST status and place of Covid-19 vaccination.
Caste details will be collected for the first time in a Census, with responses recorded as shared by respondents and no list of castes on the questionnaire.
Self-enumeration will be available from August 17 to 31, just before house-to-house population enumeration begins.
Population enumeration runs September 1-30 in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and begins next year (February 2027) in the rest of the country.
The Union Cabinet approved Rs 11,718 crore for the fully digital Census, whose house listing and housing census phase is on till September 30.
- Who
- The Government of India (Centre), through Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan; the decision to include caste was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- What
- Notified 40 questions for the population enumeration phase of Census 2027, including caste, SC/ST status and place of Covid-19 vaccination, making it the first Census to collect caste details for all communities.
- When
- Notification issued on Friday, August 14; self-enumeration runs August 17-31; enumeration runs September 1-30 in snow-bound areas and begins next year, in February 2027, in the rest of the country.
- Where
- India; the first phase of population enumeration is in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
- Why
- To conduct the population enumeration phase of Census 2027 and, for the first time, collect caste data as part of the Census.
- Census
- Census 2027
- Questions notified
- 40
- Notification date
- August 14 (Friday)
- Issuing authority
- Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan
- First-phase enumeration
- September 1-30 in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand
- Self-enumeration window
- August 17-31
- Budget approved
- Rs 11,718 crore by the Union Cabinet
- Notable questions
- Caste (first time in a Census), SC/ST status, place of Covid-19 vaccination, Aadhaar, Voter ID and passport details
