Overview
- The official Census 2027 notification uses an open‑ended text entry for Question 10 and does not include a separate OBC checkbox, a design choice that has triggered sustained public criticism.
- Opposition figures including Ashok Gehlot, Manikrao Thakare and Ajay Kumar Lallu demanded the questionnaire be replaced with a verified dropdown linked to central and state OBC lists, saying free‑text answers will split single castes into many inconsistent entries.
- PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss warned that manual text entry could produce millions of variant entries and urged the Centre to load central and state OBC lists into the census software for enumerator selection.
- Census officials and experts defended the open‑entry method and said enumerators will record responses as given, then use a Code Directory, validation checks and post‑enumeration standardisation to map and collapse variants into official categories.
- The dispute intensified on Saturday, September 5 with the Congress announcing a 100‑day ‘OBC Hak Hunkar’ campaign; the debate pivots on a trade‑off between capturing local sub‑caste names and producing consistent, analyzable counts, a concern sharpened by SECC 2011’s roughly 4.6 million distinct entries and by state models in Telangana and Bihar.