Caste count is in. The 40 questions aren’t.

The Union government has approved caste enumeration as part of Census 2027 — in the second phase, alongside individual population data — and says the detailed questions for that phase will be notified before it begins. That is on the record from 4 February 2026. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs’ reply in the Rajya Sabha, “In Census, Caste also will be enumerated in second phase,” with the questionnaire to be notified ahead of that phase.

What has been notified already is the first phase — House Listing and Housing Census — and it contains a single household-level checkbox on whether the head belongs to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or “Other”. That is not the individual caste enumeration Delhi has promised for Phase II. The Gazette dated 22 January 2026 authorises only the houselisting schedule; no 40‑question Phase II form appears in it.

The timeline the Centre has published sets Population Enumeration around 1 March 2027 (with a colder‑weather reference date of 1 October 2026 for Ladakh and snow‑bound Himalayan areas). Cabinet decisions in April and a June release both say caste data will be taken “along with” the main enumeration — i.e., Phase II — not by a separate survey.

As for the viral claim that enumerators will also lift Aadhaar numbers, bank accounts, mobile numbers, vaccination history and every ID in your wallet: the documents cited above do not show it. The Registrar General’s catalogue lists a Phase‑II pre‑test item uploaded on 29 June 2026, but the final questionnaire itself is not published there.

One thing the Centre has said plainly: post‑Independence censuses have not counted caste beyond SC/ST. This would be the first full caste enumeration of all communities since Independence, if Delhi follows through in Phase II — and if it manages to notify the questions it keeps promising.