India, Aug. 14 -- The government on Friday notified 40 questions, including one about the respondents' caste, for the population enumeration (PE), the second phase of the Census 2027, which begins in Ladakh and snowbound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on August 17. For the rest of the country, the population enumeration will be conducted in February 2027.

Caste is being enumerated for the first time since independence. The question about it is number 10, along with a "schedule caste/schedule tribe" column in an open-ended format, which means Census officers will record the caste of a person as declared.

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs cleared the decision to include caste enumeration on April 30 ...