New Delhi: The caste enumeration to be conducted alongside the population census will use an open-ended format, with enumerators recording the caste stated by respondents rather than selecting from a prescribed list, reported Indian Express.The Registrar General of India has decided against using a drop-down menu of castes, including lists drawn from existing Central and State classifications. Enumerators will instead record responses as stated and will not attempt to classify surnames, sub-castes or other responses into broader caste categories, the newspaper reported, citing sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).“It has been finally decided that no dropdown menu or any other means will be used for caste enumeration. People have to just state their caste and the same will be recorded as it is,” a senior MHA official told Indian Express. The official said enumerators would not be expected to categorise a surname or sub-caste into a particular caste category.The RGI had earlier considered using a drop-down menu drawing from Central and State lists of castes, particularly for Other Backward Classes. The Census already uses a drop-down menu for recording notified Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, according to the report.The choice of an open-ended format is likely to produce problems similar to those encountered during the 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census, when respondents were allowed to report their caste without being restricted to a standardised list. That exercise produced nearly 46.7 lakh distinct caste names, compared with 4,147 castes recorded in the last comprehensive caste census in 1931. The Union government subsequently withheld the raw caste data.An unnamed Union minister acknowledged that the new format could again produce results similar to the 2011 exercise, but said the government had accepted the demand for a caste census despite its concerns about the quality of the eventual data.“Yes, it is true that an open-ended question will likely produce 2011-like results. But what can we do?” the minister told the newspaper. The minister said the government had “always maintained that a caste census is fraught with possibilities of producing poor data because of the complexities involved”, but had accepted the exercise because the Opposition had been demanding it.The decision also addresses concerns raised by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and sections of the Sangh Parivar about using existing Central and State caste lists. According to Indian Express, they had opposed relying on such lists on the grounds that they could further entrench caste classifications that they associate with the caste architecture institutionalised during British rule.The government’s stated rationale for the open-ended format, however, is that the census should record what respondents say about their caste rather than have the state determine their caste identity. A senior MHA official claimed that a census is “not a verification exercise, only a recording exercise” and does not require respondents to produce evidence for their claims.“If a Brahmin claims he is a Yadav, the enumerator is not going to ask for his caste certificate,” the official said, according to the report. A drop-down menu, the official argued, would therefore create a situation in which the state participated in generating unreliable data.The caste enumeration will be carried out alongside the population enumeration phase of Census 2027. The main exercise is scheduled across the country in February next year, while enumeration in hilly and snow-bound areas is scheduled to begin on September 1 this year to avoid difficulties during the winter months.