Overview
- The central government has kept Question 10 on caste as an open text field for enumerators rather than a predefined dropdown, prompting protests from opposition parties and regional leaders.
- Congress and parties such as the PMK say the open‑entry approach will create spelling and name variants that split single communities into many entries and have demanded a verified dropdown list and fresh consultations.
- Officials defend the design, saying enumerators will record answers verbatim and that a post‑enumeration Code Directory plus validation checks will match and standardise entries to official lists.
- Some experts argue the free‑text method is more likely to capture local sub‑castes and names that fixed lists miss and note the census is run by trained Registrar General staff rather than the ad hoc 2011 SECC process.
- The dispute matters for policy because caste counts feed reservation and welfare planning, and the debate could still influence census tools or procedures before the national roll‑out scheduled to begin in February 2027.