New Delhi: The Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI) and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) were at odds over the usage of existing caste lists for the Census 2027 enumeration, with the MoSJE revising an official meeting note later to reflect its offer to share the Central Other Backward Classes (OBC) list, according to sources cited by The Indian Express. The caste enumeration for the population census exercise has already become a point of contention, in the light of the government’s decision to collect caste data through an open-ended column instead of a pre-defined drop-down list. The move has drawn criticism from opposition parties, with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge arguing that reliable caste information is pertinent for effective social justice policies.The latest development surrounds a June 1 meeting attended by officials from the ORGI and the MoSJE and chaired by Registrar General of India (RGI) Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan. Additional RGI Sunil Kumar and Ministry Joint Secretary Shailendra Kumar were also present at the meeting.MoSJE offered the existing OBC listSources informed The Indian Express that MoSJE officials indicated at the meeting that the list of OBC communities maintained by the National Commission of Backward Classes should be made available for the caste enumeration.However, the first draft of the meeting record prepared by the RGI’s officer reportedly did not accurately represent this position.The Indian Express reported that an initial four-paragraph note circulated by the RGI’s office on June 8 said ministry officials had claimed that there was no constitutional requirement for the government to maintain a comprehensive list of castes. Therefore, such a list was unavailable.Ironically, the same note also recorded that the ministry kept a notified list of Scheduled Castes (SCs), containing 1,258 entries, and the Central List of OBCs, containing 2,483 entries. It added that the lists would be provided to the RGI’s office as needed.Revised recordThe note’s wording subsequently drew objections from the ministry. A ministry official, quoted by The Indian Express, described the wording as a “trap,” saying that it appeared to place responsible on the ministry for the absence of a pre-defined caste list.On June 11, an amended version of the note was sent to the RGI’s office by the MoSJE. The revised note clarified that the ministry maintains the SC List and the Central List of OBC as required under the constitution. It also states that it was not required to maintain a distinct, comprehensive list of all caste beyond the mandated categories.The RGI’s office accepted the revision on June 30, the report said. Narayan and Ministry Secretary Sudhansh Pant did not respond to The Indian Express’s requests for comment.Why the format is of importanceAs per a government notification cited in the report, the main population enumeration and caste enumeration are scheduled for February next year. Meanwhile, the exercise has begun in hilly and snow-bound areas this month, seeking to avoid difficulties during minter months.Even though critics have highlighted the futility of the caste data collected through the decade-old Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) using an open-entry response, the government has defended its stance. It has argued that a pre-determined list could result in the state effectively deciding which caste identities should be recognised.Nevertheless, the approach creates a massive data-interpretation challenge: millions of responses could contain different spellings, names and classifications for the same caste identities, making it very difficult to produce reliable statistics.In 2011, which participating in the SECC exercise, respondents reported around 46.7 lakhs distinct caste names, compared to the 4,147 castes recorded in the 1931 census. Affidavits submitted to the Supreme Court in September and December 2021 also noted that the Union government said the caste data collected during 2011 SECC suffered technical problems and inaccuracies.The 2011 caste data was ultimately not released with the rest of the SECC results. On December 15, 2021, the apex court took note of the government’s position that the data was inaccurate and unusable.“The fact remains that the affidavit filed before this Court emphatically states that the data as collated is not accurate and is unusable for any purpose whatsoever,” the court had observed, as per the Indian Express report.The data was handed over the MoSJE, which constituted an expert group under the NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson Arvind Panagariya to categorise the information.Ministry sources quoted by The Indian Express report say they fear that the 2027 exercise could face similar problems, rendering the exercise ineffective. The proposed open-ended approach has, thus, raised questions about the government will standardise varied responses of such a colossal amount while avoiding the appearance of officially determining caste identities.The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs approved the decision to include caste enumeration in the Census 2027 on April 30, 2025, marking a reversal from the Union government’s earlier position on the matter. This is the first time that caste enumeration will be a part of the population survey.