Photo: Maktoob Media
The Congress and CPI(M) have raised objections to certain questions reportedly included in the Census 2027 questionnaire, alleging that they could be used to gather information for the National Population Register (NPR) and facilitate surveillance.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged on Wednesday that the methodology being used to collect caste data was deliberately flawed and suggested that the exercise served a more troubling purpose.
He pointed to questions seeking details about respondents’ religion and the dates and places of birth of their parents, saying such information had not been sought in previous censuses, Maktoob Media reported.
Ramesh shared a report by The Hindu on X which stated that the population enumeration questionnaire for Census 2027 asks respondents for the religion, date of birth and place of birth, down to the village level, of both parents.
The questionnaire, which has reportedly been introduced in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of three other states ahead of the nationwide exercise, includes these details under the heading “Family Particulars”. It also reportedly provides an option to record the birthplace of parents born outside India.
Rashmi, media coordinator of the All India Congress Committee, alleged that the process for recording caste had been designed in a way that could result in respondents either selecting “No Caste” or declining to disclose their caste.
Author Ziya Us Salam said the reported questions appeared to be an attempt to bring the NPR into the Census exercise indirectly.
A senior CPI(M) leader and the Leader of the Opposition in Kerala similarly alleged that the Union government was attempting to introduce the NPR through the Census questionnaire. The former Kerala chief minister said reports about questions concerning the birthplace and religion of respondents’ parents indicated an attempt to pursue the government’s NPR agenda through the Census.
Vijayan alleged that the purpose behind seeking such information was apparent and argued that no policy connecting citizenship with religion should be accepted. He also called on the Union government to remove what he described as divisive and questionable questions from the Census questionnaire.
Meanwhile, the Congress had on Tuesday accused the Modi government of attempting to undermine the caste census.
The party questioned why Census 2027 did not include a drop-down menu for selecting caste, despite the Union government having reportedly supported such a mechanism in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court in September 2021.
The Congress further alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reversed his position after announcing a caste census on April 30, 2025, and claimed that the government had now effectively taken another turn away from that earlier commitment.