The government has not yet finalised the method to count castes in the 2027 Census. Preparations for caste enumeration are likely to be complete by July, government sources said. Opposition parties like Congress and Samajwadi Party raised doubts after the first phase Census questionnaire, released last week, lacked an expanded caste column. They asked if the Centre intends to conduct a caste count during Census 2027. The full caste enumeration details may be revealed in September, when the second Census phase, called Population Enumeration (PE), begins in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The caste count for other states will happen during the PE phase in February 2027. This Census will be the 16th and the first in independent India to count all castes beyond Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), as per the government. Unlike the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), caste data this time will be part of the official Census, giving it legal status. The SECC had recorded over 46 lakh castes, whereas the 1931 Census listed 4,147. For the first time, data will be collected digitally via smartphones and mobile apps, with a portal for citizen self-enumeration expected to be announced. Census 2027 will have two phases: Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO) from April to September 2026, and Population Enumeration in February 2027. On January 22, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) released 33 questions for HLO. Question 12 asked: “Whether the head of the household is Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Others.” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh criticized this, saying it excludes Other Backward Classes (OBC) and General categories. He said, "Since caste enumeration is to be part of Census 2027, Question 12 as formulated does raise serious questions on the Modi Government’s true intentions and on its commitment to a comprehensive, fair, nation-wide caste census." Ramesh urged the government to consult political parties, states, and civil society before finalizing caste enumeration. He cited Telangana's 2025 SEEEPC survey as a good example for collecting detailed caste data on education, employment, income, and politics. Previously, the 2011 HLO questionnaire also included a similar SC/ST question. SC/ST lists are maintained centrally, while OBC lists are maintained by both Centre and States. There are about 2,650 OBCs in the Central list, 1,170 Scheduled Castes, and 890 Scheduled Tribes. It is unclear if the "Other" category will merge Central and State OBC lists or include unreserved castes. The November 2025 Census pre-test covered only the HLO phase since the caste method is undecided. A State official said the PE pre-test must finish by July because snow-bound states start both phases in September. On January 24, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav accused the government of delaying the caste census, calling it a BJP gimmick and conspiracy against backward communities. He posted on X, "There isn’t even a column for caste in the census notification—what will they count?" The official start of Census 2027 is planned carefully with data collection in remote areas beginning first to keep the timeline intact.