Caste, bank accounts, Covid jabs: Census Phase-II to have 40 questions

Data will remain confidential, can’t be used for legal evidence, govt benefits or public disclosureNEW DELHI: The second phase of Census 2027 — involving population enumeration — will, for the first time, capture caste “as declared by the respondent” among its 40 fields, which include new ones such as number of bank accounts, place of Covid vaccination and voter card number.Enumeration by caste will not delve into whether it falls under the other backward classes (OBC) category. However, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be enumerated as earlier.The questionnaire notified Friday shall also seek name of spouse, parents’ particulars and nationality — elements captured by the National Population Register (NPR) exercise undertaken alongside Census 2011. NPR updation was, however, deli