The 40-Question Population Enumeration Schedule (Phase 2)

Notified 14 August 2026 by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Census Act, 1948: the Phase 2 (Population Enumeration) schedule contains 40 questions, up from 29 in Census 2011 — an increase of 11, with 13-14 questions new or modified (Civils Daily counts 13 new; Vajiram & Ravi's digest counts 14 new/modified). Topic coverage per the Goa FAQ and news reports of the notification: for every individual — name, relationship to head, sex, age, marital status, religion, SC/ST status and caste (Q10 per ThePrint: 'Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Caste', open-ended, no drop-down), mother tongue and languages known, literacy and education (highest level, discipline/stream, institution attendance), disability, economic activity/employment status and means of work, migration (place of last residence, reason for migration), fertility details for married women, and birthplace/nationality as declared.

New items reported across ThePrint, ANI, Deccan Herald, Civils Daily and Vajiram: spouse's name; father's and mother's particulars; permanent address; nationality as declared; identity documents — Aadhaar, voter ID, passport possession, driving licence (Civils Daily describes 'identity document numbers'; ThePrint frames passport/driving licence as possession questions; the exact gazette wording was not directly inspected — mark the numbers-vs-possession distinction unconfirmed); mobile number; digital literacy; number of bank accounts held; place of COVID-19 vaccination; and the caste question itself.

The full verbatim 40-question text has not been reproduced by any single secondary source seen; the authoritative text is the RGI notification in the Gazette of India (e-gazette) — the complete verbatim list should be pulled from egazette.gov.in or censusindia.gov.in before publishing a question-by-question page (confidence: topics confirmed by multiple news reports; verbatim wording unconfirmed). Canvassing: enumerators use the Census 2027-PE mobile app; every individual in normal, institutional and houseless households is covered.

Self-enumeration is available for normal households via the web portal, which for Phase 2 is 'georeferenced, so access is restricted to devices located within the notified area' (Civils Daily); the head or a responsible adult can enter all members' details. Timing: snow-bound areas ran this schedule September 2026 (reference date October 1, 2026); the rest of India runs it February 2027 (reference moment 00:00 hrs March 1, 2027).

Eight of the new questions overlap with the 2020 draft NPR schedule (nationality, parents' particulars, mobile number, identity documents) per Vajiram's analysis. All responses are as-declared, document-free, and protected by Section 15 confidentiality.