The gazette notification for the personal enumeration part of the 2027 Census was issued on August 14. The most awaited part of this phase of the Census is the caste enumeration that will happen for the first time in independent India. This practice was a part of Census operations under British rule but was discontinued. To be sure, the Census has been counting the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) population separately even in earlier iterations. What was not counted separately was the non-SC-ST population, which also includes the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The biggest push for counting caste came from OBC groups and politicians. How exactly will the 2027 Census count caste apart from SC/ST? Here is what we know and do not know.
