Government yet to decide how open-column caste data will be sorted, tabulated

Even though the Union government announced the questionnaire for the second phase of the 2027 Census more than a month ago, a decision to determine how open-column caste data will be sorted, tabulated, and rationalised is still pending. Officials shared that this approach allows individuals outside the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to enter their caste names in an open column, unlike the Bihar and Telangana governments who used a predefined list of castes for their caste surveys.

The open-column method also offers a "no-caste" option and permits individuals to skip disclosing their caste altogether. Critics, including experts, opposition parties, and groups representing Other Backward Classes, have expressed concerns that this method could replicate the results of the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census, which listed over 46 lakh distinct caste names.

A senior government official mentioned that deliberations on making sense of the data obtained through the new census form have not commenced yet and are anticipated as the fieldwork advances over the upcoming months. The second phase of the 2027 Census consists of 40 questions, with 13 being new or additional compared to the 2011 Census.

These consist of the caste question and other fields related to family details, ID proofs, and COVID vaccinations. The distribution of these questions among various sections of the Census office will be followed by their respective tabulation, after which the strategy for handling this data will be forwarded to the Union Home Secretary.

Scholar and cultural activist, Professor G.N. Devy, criticized the government for not involving caste experts in the question formulation process, suggesting that the delay in finalising the post-data collection methodology may be a deliberate strategy to postpone the release of the census data.