Former top officials caution against 'extraneous considerations' in Census schedule

By A Representative 

A group of 90 retired civil servants under the banner of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG) has written to Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, raising concerns over the timing, methodology and transparency of the upcoming 2027 Census.

In a letter dated February 23, 2026, the group—comprising former officers of the IAS, IPS, IFS and other central services—said it was committed to upholding constitutional values and norms of public conduct. While acknowledging that the 2021 Census could not be conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the signatories questioned why the exercise had not been completed by 2023, as in many other countries. They said the reasons for a six-year delay had not been made public, leading to “unnecessary apprehensions” that the Census timing could be linked to the proposed delimitation of constituencies in 2027–28 ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. The group expressed hope that no extraneous considerations had influenced the schedule.

The CCG urged that the Census adhere strictly to the United Nations’ Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses (Revision 4, March 2025), to which India is a signatory. It cautioned that reliance on mobile-based data entry with pre-coded dropdown options at the field level could limit error correction and affect data quality. Drawing on experience from the 2001 and 2011 Censuses, the group noted that technological upgrades alone had not necessarily expedited data release and stressed the need for robust quality checks and openness to scrutiny.

The letter recommended streamlining the questionnaire by dropping items that are not essential or for which alternative data sources exist. For instance, it suggested that information on children born and surviving may be better captured through the National Family Health Survey. On caste enumeration, the group noted that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) have not been specifically classified in previous Censuses and said the methodology for the forthcoming exercise should be made public. It proposed leaving the caste field open, as in the 2011 Socio Economic and Caste Census, rather than relying solely on pre-listed categories. It also suggested involving academic and research institutions such as the Anthropological Survey of India to help validate and consolidate caste data, drawing on methods used in language enumeration.

The CCG further recommended expanding the scope of tribal data collection beyond the Scheduled Tribe list to include other tribal communities, arguing that this could address longstanding concerns of Denotified Tribes. On the sensitive issue of religion, the group called for careful handling to ensure accurate recording of minority populations, particularly in the context of public debates around citizenship and electoral rolls.

Stating that many of its members had been involved in Census operations at district, state and national levels during their service, the group expressed confidence that the Registrar General would ensure the exercise meets “the threefold goals of accuracy, transparency and accessibility.” The letter concluded with the sign-off “Satyameva Jayate” and was endorsed by several prominent former officials, including former Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, former Foreign Secretary K. Raghunath, former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa and former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, among others.