People should disclose details as per Census Act: Home Ministry

The Union Government said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (December 2, 2025) that as per the Census Act, 1948, “the respondent is required to answer all questions to the best of his knowledge or belief.”

The statement came as a written reply by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai in response to a question by Trinamool Congress member Shatrughan Prasad Sinha who asked whether disclosing caste for the Census would be optional

The Minister’s reply mentioned Section 8(2) of the Census Act, 1948, which says, “Every person of whom any question is asked under sub-section (1) shall be legally bound to answer such question to the best of his knowledge or belief.”

The next Census will be the first digital census and the first to enumerate caste in the Independent India.

The reply added that the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner is in the process of finalising a questionnaire and it will be notified in the official gazette.

When asked if the timeline for the Census would clash with school board examinations as many enumerators are also schoolteachers, the reply said, “Primary school teachers are usually appointed as enumerators. The timeline for Census 2027 has been kept same like the past practices followed in previous censuses.”

The reply said, “In Census, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (Sts) are enumerated strictly as per the notified list of SCs and STs, notified vide the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 (as amended time to time). In Census 2027, Caste enumeration will be done as decided by Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs vide its decision dated 30.04.2025. The census questions are notified after finalisation.”

The Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases. — Phase I –House Listing and Housing Census from April to September, 2026 in a period of 30 days as per the convenience of the State/UT Governments, followed by Phase II – Population Enumeration (PE). Population. Enumeration will be done in February 2027.

Responding to another question by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi whether the Government has any proposal to publish the draft Census questions and seek inputs from the general public or people’s representatives and whether it will consider best practices such as caste surveys done in other States, the Minister said, “The draft Census questionnaires are pre-tested in the field to assess their feasibility before finalisation of the same. Census has a history of more than 150 years. Learnings from the previous census are taken into consideration for conducting the next census. Before each census, the inputs are also taken from concerned stakeholders.”