Now Reading: Census 2027 self-enumeration begins in Ladakh, snow-bound areas
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Census 2027 self-enumeration begins in Ladakh, snow-bound areas
A 15-day self-enumeration process for Phase-II of Census 2027 started on Monday in Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Residents can submit their details online via an official web portal until August 31. The door-to-door population enumeration in these areas will run from September 1 to September 30, 2026, followed by a revision round from October 1 to October 5. In the rest of the country, the second phase is scheduled for February 2027.
The questionnaire includes 40 questions, 13 of them new compared to the 2011 census. Republic World reports that caste enumeration is a key feature, with question 10 asking for caste name if the respondent is not SC/ST. The Hindu notes that while SC/ST respondents choose from a drop-down menu, others must type a caste name in an open field, and the data fields are marked mandatory. New fields also include spouse name, nationality, parents' particulars, Aadhaar, mobile, voter ID, passport and driving licence numbers, and COVID-19 vaccination place.
The Hindu reports that Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused the government of sabotaging the caste census, arguing the open-field method will produce unreliable data unlike the drop-down menu the government itself recommended in a 2021 Supreme Court affidavit. He said the Prime Minister made a U-turn on the caste census. Republic World does not report this criticism.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Republic World frames Census 2027 as a milestone, India's first digital census with comprehensive caste enumeration, and leads with the logistics of the process. The Hindu leads with the new questions and the political controversy over caste enumeration, prominently quoting Congress criticism and noting the overlap with NPR data fields that had raised privacy concerns. Neither outlet notes that the open-field method for caste was the same approach used in the 2011 SECC, which yielded over 46 lakh different caste names. A careful reader should watch whether the government releases a drop-down menu before the February 2027 enumeration for the rest of India, as the 2021 affidavit recommended.
Coverage: 2 sources, 1 pro-government, 1 government-critical
Sources (2): republicworld.com (pro government), thehindu.com (government critical)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Methodology and corrections.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
