UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Caste away

Q1. In the history of the Census of India, which one of the following was the last Census to record a comprehensive enumeration of caste for the general population?

  • A. 1921
  • B. 1931
  • C. 1941
  • D. 1951

Q2. In the context of Census 2027, the term 'self-enumeration' most precisely refers to which one of the following?

  • A. The option for respondents to fill in their own household and individual particulars digitally (via a web portal/mobile app) instead of relying solely on an enumerator's visit
  • B. The practice of each State independently enumerating its own population outside the central Census
  • C. The automatic generation of population figures from Aadhaar and electoral rolls without any field survey
  • D. The counting of only those persons who voluntarily register themselves at designated Census offices

Q3. The Supreme Court Bench that in 2026 dismissed the PIL seeking exclusion of caste enumeration from Census 2027 comprised how many judges?

  • A. Two
  • B. Three
  • C. Five
  • D. Seven

Q4. The Bench that dismissed the PIL against caste enumeration in Census 2027, holding it a policy decision beyond judicial review, was headed by which one of the following?

  • A. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant
  • B. Justice Joymalya Bagchi
  • C. Justice Vipul Pancholi
  • D. The Attorney General for India

Q5. The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. A constitutional body under Article 338B mandated to examine the welfare and grievances of socially and educationally backward classes
  • B. A purely statutory body created under the Census Act, 1948 to classify caste returns
  • C. A body under the NITI Aayog that fixes reservation percentages for States
  • D. A judicial tribunal that adjudicates disputes over inclusion of communities in the OBC list

Q6. State-level caste surveys, such as the caste survey whose findings were released by Telangana in 2025, are operationalised by which one of the following?

  • A. The respective State Government's own administrative machinery
  • B. Exclusively the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India
  • C. The National Commission for Backward Classes
  • D. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation alone

Q7. Under whose authority were the recent State caste surveys (such as Telangana's, released in 2025) conducted?

  • A. Under the executive/administrative authority of the respective State Government, and not under the central Census Act, 1948
  • B. Under the Census Act, 1948, with the same statutory confidentiality as the national Census
  • C. Under a specific directive of the Registrar General of India
  • D. Under Article 340 of the Constitution as a Presidential Commission

Q8. The Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 threw up approximately how many distinct caste/sub-caste categories, a key reason its caste data was never officially released?

  • A. About 4 thousand
  • B. About 46 thousand
  • C. About 46 lakh
  • D. About 4 crore