CASTE BASED CENSUS

• Caste enumeration is the systematic recording of every individual's caste/jati during the decadal Census, abandoned for the general population after 1931 and revived for Census 2027.
• Conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (ORGI) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, governed by the Census Act, 1948.
• Critical for UPSC: intersects reservation policy, social justice (Arts. 15(4), 16(4), 340), federalism, and data-driven welfare targeting.