Congress Leaders Urge PM Modi to Scrap Open Ended Caste Census Questionnaire

Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 25, 2026, requesting the cancellation of the current questionnaire for the 2027 Census. The leaders objected to the government's decision to use an open ended question format to record caste details, describing the method as misleading. They argued that allowing respondents to enter caste names freely could lead to the same caste being recorded under different names, spellings, or sub castes, which would fragment the data and render it useless for framing social justice policies.

Kharge and Gandhi proposed that the government instead use a verified, fixed list of castes with a drop down option. They suggested this list could be compiled using the Anthropological Survey of India and existing government lists of socially and educationally backward classes. The leaders cited the caste surveys conducted in Bihar and Telangana as successful examples of using pre prepared lists. They further noted that the current questionnaire fails to include the term backward class, which they claim makes it impossible to accurately determine the total population of Other Backward Classes.

The 2027 Census will mark the first time since independence that caste will be enumerated across all communities, although Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have always been counted separately. While the opposition has long demanded a nationwide caste census to inform reservations in jobs and education, the Congress party has recently alleged that the current government is attempting to sabotage the process. The leaders have called for a new questionnaire to be developed following extensive consultation with experts, political parties, and the public.