Census 2027: Ministry of Home Affairs notifies 40 questions to be asked through household schedule
New Delhi, August 14
The Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday notified a set of 40 questions that will be asked by census officials to collect information from households as part of the Census of India 2027.
According to the notification issued by the Office of the Registrar General, India, under the powers conferred by the Census Act, 1948, census officers will collect the specified information through the Household Schedule within their respective areas.
The questions cover a wide range of demographic, social, educational and economic details of individuals and households.
The information to be collected includes the name of the person, relationship with the head of the household, sex, date of birth and age, marital status, age at marriage, spouse's name and nationality.
The schedule will also seek information on religion, Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe or caste, father's and mother's particulars, disability, mother tongue and other languages known, literacy and digital literacy status, and attendance at educational institutions.
Questions relating to education will also cover the highest educational level attained and stream or discipline.
The census schedule further includes questions on employment and economic activity, including whether a person worked during the last year, their category of economic activity, occupation, nature of industry, trade or service, class of worker, non-economic activity and availability or seeking of work.
The remaining questions cover birthplace, place of last residence, reason for migration, duration of stay at the current village or town since last migration and permanent residential address.
For eligible women, the schedule will collect information on the number of children surviving at present, number of children ever born alive and number of children born alive during the last year.
The questionnaire also includes questions on place of COVID-19 vaccination, total number of bank accounts, mobile number, Aadhaar number, voter ID number, passport number for Indian passport holders and availability of a driving licence.
The notification forms part of preparations for the Census of India 2027, with the 40 questions providing the framework for information to be collected from households through the census exercise.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Asking about religion and caste in 2027? I thought we were moving towards a caste-less society. This data has historically been misused for vote bank politics. Respectfully, I think these questions should be dropped for national integration.
The question about COVID vaccination is interesting - shows how the census is adapting to recent events. Also glad they're asking about digital literacy and mobile numbers. We need this data to bridge the digital divide in rural India. 👏
As someone who works with Indian census data abroad, I must say these 40 questions are comprehensive. The inclusion of marriage age and migration patterns will help researchers understand social changes better. Good step by MHA!
Why do they need to know my spouse's nationality? That feels unnecessary and could create issues in mixed marriages. Also, collecting passport numbers seems overreach - what if the data gets leaked? Privacy concerns are real, yaar.
The questions on children ever born and surviving children are so important for maternal health programs. As a public health worker, I've seen how lack of this data hampers planning. Kudos to the government for keeping these questions! 🙏
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