New Delhi: The questionnaire for Census 2027’s population enumeration phase, that has been rolled out in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of three-other states, consists of questions on religion, date of birth and place of birth, of both the father and mother, up to the village level, according to The Hindu. The questionnaire’s inclusion parents’ religious and place-of-birth details have raised concerns about the potential use of the data to single out minority religious groups and immigrants, especially in light of the ruling government’s exclusionary and communal approach to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in name of weeding out “illegal immigrants.”The questionnaire, as seen by The Hindu, includes 40 questions – 13 more than those asked in the 2011 survey. A majority of the additions seek personal and family details, such as the names and details of the respondent’s parents, nationality, permanent residential address and digital literacy.This is the first time that case will also be enumerated as part of the census. Respondents belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities will select their caste from a predetermined list, while others can enter their caste specifics manually. The questionnaire also permits people to record their caste as “Does not want to declare caste” and “No Caste.”The open-field method which was employed in the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census has drawn criticism over the potential inconsistency in data. In 2011, the absence of a standardised caste list had resulted in more than 46 lakh different caste names being reported. Several sources later cited the data as unreliable.What are the new additions?The Census 2027 questionnaire, as circulated in snow-bound areas ahead of the rest of the nation, seeks information regarding the respondent’s spouse, COVID-19 vaccination details, number of bank accounts, permanent address, passport and driver’s license, mobile number, voter ID card and Aadhaar details. Respondents will also be asked to state whether they received their COVID-19 vaccination within or outside India.As per The Hindu’s report, some questions overlap with information demanded in the 2019 National Population Register (NPR) rehearsal. The NPR, which was last updated in 2015, had not been updated alongside the census amid opposition concerns that it can be eventually used to create a National Register of Citizens.The questionnaire also allows people to record religions beyond the stated ones – Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism – under a distinct category called “other religion.” For people born outside of India, the place of birth of the respondent’s parents can also be recorded, reported The Hindu.Enumeration in phasesAlthough the self-enumeration for the second phase of the census has already begun in Ladakh and parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, door-to-door enumeration will take place from September 1 to September 30, 2026. The second phase for the rest of the country will be conducted in February 2027.This is the first time that caste enumeration, along with a wide variety of demographic, family and identity-related information will be collected as part of the population census.Criticism from oppositionCongress leader Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, criticised the open-field method being used for Census 2027, citing a 2021 Supreme Court affidavit that recommended the usage of a drop-down list for accuracy of data collection.“The question now is this: why does Census 2027 NOT have this drop down menu that the Modi Government recommended in the affidavit it submitted to the Supreme Court in Sept 2021? Such a menu had, in fact, been prepared prior to the caste surveys both in Bihar and Telangana. Such a menu had also been suggested by the Congress President in his letter to the PM of May 5, 2025,” he wrote on X.He added, “The conclusion is clear: the Modi Govt wants to simply sabotage the caste census. The PM had made a complete U-turn on April 30,2025 and announced that a caste census – which he had earlier attacked as an “urban naxal” idea – would take place. Now he has done another U-turn on his earlier U-turn and without saying so has buried the idea of a caste census. He is an U-turn ustad (master).”In a later post on Wednesday (August 19), he alleged that the methodology for asking questions on caste in Census 2027 was “deliberately flawed.” He said questions about date of birth and place of birth of parents have never been asked before.“Census is confidential. Clearly Census 2027 has a deeper nefarious purpose,” said Ramesh.