Census 2027 Caste Enumeration: The second phase is under way, but how open-column caste data will be tabulated is still undecided

Officials told The Hindu on 25 September 2026 that the Union government has not yet decided how caste names recorded through the open-column method in Census 2027 will be sorted, tabulated and rationalised. The same week, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan completed a four-day review in Ladakh, the first State or UT where the Population Enumeration phase is being conducted.