Caste enumeration will be done along with census operations, the chief principal census officer in Uttar Pradesh said on Saturday.

Sheetal Verma, who is also the director of census operations in the state, was speaking to reporters in Lucknow.

She said, "We reach out to every ordinary citizen and enumerate them. We conduct a count of households and gather information regarding household assets. When we go to Phase 2, which is scheduled for February 2027, we will focus on a wide range of individual characteristics and personal attributes.

"For instance, we collect data on fertility, literacy levels and the nature of one's occupation. This time, a caste enumeration will also be conducted. A caste-based census will indeed be carried out." She added that the census that is about to be conducted will be the eighth since Independence and 16th in the series that started in 1880s.

In 1881, a nationwide census was conducted simultaneously across the entire country.

"In the context of population, if you are ordinarily residing in a particular location, you are considered part of that area's population and will be enumerated. Unless you possess diplomatic immunity or are a citizen of another country, you will be counted as part of the population," Verma said, adding that territory refers to the geographical area, the boundaries of which are effectively "frozen" for the purpose of the exercise.

As of December 31, 2025, all revenue and administrative units across the entirety of India have been frozen and until March 31, 2027, and "no new tehsil will be created, no new state will be formed, no new revenue village will be established, and no new administrative block will be constituted", she said.

"The rationale behind this measure is that once the population enumeration is complete, the resulting data is published revenue-village-wise and ward-wise," the officer told reporters.

Census is the only operation of its kind that is truly universal, she noted.

"We reach out to every single citizen, to every individual and count them," Verma said.

Later, in a statement issued here, she said the Census 2027 exercise will be conducted digitally for the first time in the country, with self-enumeration available as an option -- which can be undertaken between May 7 and 21, ahead of the house-listing operations in the state.

Under the self-enumeration option, individuals can fill in their details online -- at se.census.gov.in. However, self-enumeration is voluntary and not mandatory, she noted.

For this task in the state, approximately 5.25 lakh officers and employees have been deployed, comprising 18 divisional census officers (divisional commissioners), 75 principal census officers (district magistrates), 17 additional principal census officers (municipal commissioners) and 600 district-level officers, and others, in addition to enumerators and supervisors, according to the statement.

It will cover 1,04,000 villages spanning 75 districts, 783 urban local bodies, and 350 tehsils, the statement said.

The houselisting questionnaire seeks details under 34 questions: Line Number, Building Number, Census House Number, Material of Floor, Material of Wall, Material of Roof, Use of Census House, Condition of Census House, Household Number, Total Persons, Name of Head of Household, Sex of Head, SC/ST/Other (of the head of the family), Ownership Status, Number of Dwelling Rooms, Number of Married Couples, Main Source of Drinking Water, Availability of Drinking Water Source, Source of Lighting, Latrine Access, Type of Latrine, Waste Water Outlet, Bathing Facility within Premises and Kitchen and LPG/CNG connection, the statement added.

On March 30, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan had asked people to provide accurate information to census enumerators, assuring them that individual data will remain confidential and cannot be used as evidence or to obtain any benefit under any scheme.

It cannot be shared with any organisation, be it government or private, under the Right to Information Act, or used as evidence in a court, Narayan said.

Only statistical aggregate data will be used for tabulation purposes, he added.

Asked about caste being included in the Census and the apprehension that people may not furnish correct information, Narayan said the data related to caste will be collected during the second phase, and the questions will be decided after exhaustive discussions.

The last comprehensive caste-based count was done between 1881 and 1931.

Caste was excluded from all census operations conducted since Independence.

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census on April 30 last year.

Narayan said that strict measures are in place for digital security, in conformity with the norms set by the Indian agencies.

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