Census 2027 Phase Two Launches Aug 17, Adding Caste and Parental Birth Data

India's Census 2027 moves into its second phase on August 17, targeting the snow-bound districts of Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. This round will introduce caste questions, a metric not gathered since the 1931 census, and is likely to record the birth dates and locations of each respondent's parents. Officials also plan to collect passport numbers and Aadhaar identifiers where individuals choose to provide them.

The parental birth information is intended to help determine eligibility for citizenship under existing criteria. The phase follows the completion of the first enumeration round earlier in the year and aims to build a more detailed demographic profile for policy planning. Senior editor Bharti Jain, who has covered security and political beats for major publications, reported the details.