The Registrar General of India (RGI) on Friday, 14th August, notified the 40-question questionnaire that will be used during the population enumeration phase of Census 2027. The questionnaire marks a major change from the 2011 Census, most notably because it will ask every respondent to provide their “caste”. This will be the first time since Independence that caste, beyond the existing enumeration of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), will be recorded across the population. The notification was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Census Act and authorises census officials to collect information through the Household Schedule.
The new Census will also collect several categories of information that were not part of the 2011 questionnaire. While the 2011 Census had 29 questions, the new schedule has 40. Among the new or expanded fields are spouse’s name, nationality, father’s and mother’s particulars, digital literacy, permanent residential address, place of Covid-19 vaccination, number of bank accounts, and the availability of mobile number, Aadhaar, voter ID, passport and driving licence details.
What are the 40 questions in Census 2027?
The notification, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the Census Act, authorises census officers to collect information through the household schedule from every person residing in their assigned areas. According to the notification, officials will gather 40 categories of information from residents. These include basic demographic details such as name, age, sex, marital status, spouse’s name, nationality, religion, caste, and parental information.
The questionnaire will seek information on education and skills, including literacy and digital literacy status, attendance in educational institutions, and the highest level of education attained. Language-related information, including mother tongue and other known languages, will also be recorded.
Respondents will be asked whether they worked during the previous year, their occupation, industry or service sector, class of worker, and whether they are seeking employment. Information on travel to the workplace will also be collected.
The notification further provides for the collection of migration-related data, including place of birth, previous place of residence, reasons for migration, and duration of stay at the current location since migration. Permanent residential address details will also be recorded.
For women who are currently married, widowed, divorced, or separated, census officials will collect information on the number of children surviving, children ever born alive, and, in some cases, births during the previous year.
The final section moves into areas that were largely absent from the 2011 Census. Respondents will be asked about the place where they received their Covid-19 vaccination and the total number of bank accounts they hold. The questionnaire will also seek their mobile number, Aadhaar number, voter ID number and passport number, where applicable, as well as whether they have a driving licence. The identification details are conditional: for example, the form asks for a passport number if the respondent is an Indian passport holder and asks for mobile and Aadhaar numbers “if available.”
The 40 questions included in this year’s census questionnaire are:
- Name of the person
- Relationship to head
- Sex
- Date of Birth and Age (in completed years)
- Current Marital Status
- Age at Marriage (in completed years)
- Spouse Name
- Nationality as declared
- Religion
- Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST)/ Caste
- Father’s Particulars
- Mother’s Particulars
- Disability
- Mother Tongue and other languages known
- Literacy and digital literacy status
- Status of attendance in educational institution
- Highest educational level attained and Stream/Discipline
- Worked at any time during the last year
- Category of economic activity
- Occupation
- Nature of industry, trade or service
- Class of worker
- Non-economic activity (for marginal, semi-marginal and non-worker)
- Seeking or available for work (for marginal, semi-marginal and non-worker)
- Travel to place of work
- Birth place
- Place of last residence
- Reason for migration
- Duration of stay in this village/town since last migration
- Permanent Residential Address
- Number of children surviving at present (for currently married, widowed, divorced and separated women only)
- Number of children ever born alive (for currently married, widowed, divorced and separated women only)
- Number of children born alive during last one year (for currently married women only)
- Place of Covid-19 Vaccination
- Total number of Bank Accounts
- Mobile Number (if available)
- Aadhaar Number (if available)
- Voter ID Number (if available)
- Passport Number (if Indian Passport holder)
- Availability of Driving License
The Overlap with the National Population Register (NPR)
Several of these questions were also featured in the rehearsal form of the National Population Register (NPR) in 2019. The NPR, which was initially proposed to be conducted alongside the first phase of the Census, was temporarily halted due to Covid-19. Left-liberal groups and Muslim organisations across the country had assumed that it was ‘dead’. They claimed that the data gathered through the NPR exercise could subsequently be used by the central government to prepare a countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC).
This overlap of questions in Census 2027 comes as bad news for those who celebrated the stalling of the NPR after organising protests in multiple parts of the country, including the anti-Hindu Delhi riots.
The Modi government has brought back the same questions in Census 2027 that were previously criticised by left-liberals and opposition parties, aiming to appease their vote bank.
During the anti-CAA agitation, West Bengal witnessed extensive violence across Murshidabad, Howrah, Malda, and North 24 Parganas, where rioters set fire to 17 buses, five empty trains, police vehicles, and fire engines, while also vandalising rail stations and blocking major highways.
Similar unrest escalated in the national capital starting in mid-December 2019, leading up to the anti-Hindu Delhi riots in February 2020. Protesters at Shaheen Bagh instituted prolonged blockades, demanding that the NPR exercise be cancelled in Delhi. Violence subsequently broke out in Jafrabad, Seelampur, Gokulpuri, Bhajanpura, and Chand Bagh, resulting in 37 deaths, including an Intelligence Bureau constable and a police head constable, alongside widespread property damage. Despite these agitations, the crucial data parameters have now been incorporated into the main census process.
Tracing lineage and the connection to Citizenship
Specific details such as relationship to the head of household, father’s particulars, mother’s particulars, duration of stay, and permanent residential address closely mirror the draft requirements of NPR 2020.
These questions carry political sensitivity because of their direct link to establishing parental lineage and long-term residency. If a Bangladeshi Muslim illegally enters India, they can potentially acquire local identity documentation like an Aadhaar card, PAN card, birth certificate, or passport over time.
However, such individuals cannot retrospectively insert their name or their father’s name into the 1971 Indian voter list. This core verification requirement is precisely why the NPR faced opposition, to establish genuine lineage, an individual must demonstrate their parent’s presence in historical electoral rolls or official registers.
Why does the issue have a citizenship angle?
The controversy over the NPR largely comes from its connection with the legal framework for preparing a National Register of Indian Citizens. Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 provides that the Central Government may compulsorily register citizens and maintain a National Register of Indian Citizens. It also states that the Registrar General can function as the National Registration Authority.
This legal connection is the reason critics have historically worried that information collected through the NPR could eventually become relevant to an NRC exercise. At the same time, it is important to distinguish the legal possibility from an actual government decision. The presence of similar questions in a Census questionnaire does not by itself establish that an NRC is being conducted or that Census data will automatically be converted into an NRC.
The concerns became especially strong after the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed in December 2019 and then Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke in Parliament about a nationwide NRC. The experience of Assam further intensified the debate, as the Assam NRC exercise required applicants to establish their eligibility for inclusion and resulted in a large number of people being left out, while questions remained over the treatment and status of those excluded.
The political significance of the questionnaire is therefore likely to extend beyond the simple counting of India’s population. The inclusion of caste could provide the country with its first broad official caste data since Independence, while the addition of information on education, employment, migration, digital literacy, banking and identity documents will create a much wider picture of Indian society.
With the inclusion of parent particulars and identity parameters in Census 2027, the structural framework for resident verification remains active within the central administrative apparatus.
When will Census 2027 take place?
Census 2027 is being conducted in two phases. The first is the Housing and House Listing Operations (HLO), followed by Population Enumeration. The HLO phase is being conducted during 2026, while the main population enumeration is scheduled for February 2027. For Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the population enumeration will take place earlier, in September 2026.
For these snow-bound areas, the government has notified September 1-30 for enumeration, followed by a revisional round from October 1-5. Self-enumeration will be available before the house-to-house exercise. The reference date for these areas is midnight of October 1, 2026, while for the rest of the country it is midnight of March 1, 2027.
The Census is also significant because it is India’s first fully digital Census, with self-enumeration being offered as an additional facility. The last Census was conducted in 2011.
