What are the 33 questions in the first phase of Census 2027?

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) on Thursday (January 22, 2025) notified 33 questions that will be put to citizens during the first phase of the Census, house listing and housing enumeration, starting April 1 extending to September 30.

In a gazette notification on January 22, Registrar General of India, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, outlined 33 questions for the Census, including materials for flooring and roofing, the number of married couples, the head of the household’s gender, cereal consumption, access to necessities, and vehicle ownership. This is an increase from the 31 questions in the previous notification on January 7, 2020, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new notification separates the combined question about flooring, walls, and roofing into three distinct inquiries regarding the predominant materials used.

Also read: Capturing urban dynamism in the 2027 Census 

What are the census questions?

Here are the 33 questions including special additions to the 2027 schedule:

1. Building number (municipal or local authority or Census number)
2. Census house number
3. Predominant material of floor of the Census house
4. Predominant material of wall of the Census house
5. Predominant material of roof of the Census house
6. Use of Census house
7. Condition of the Census house
8. Household number
9. Total number of persons normally residing in the household
10. Name of the head of the household
11. Sex of the head of the household
12. Whether the head of the household belongs to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Other
13. Ownership status
14. Number of dwelling rooms exclusively in possession of the household
15. Number of married couple(s) living in the household
16. The main source of drinking water
17. Availability of drinking water source
18. Main source of lighting
19. Access to latrine
20. Type of latrine
21. Waste water outlet
22. Availability of bathing facility
23. Availability of kitchen and LPG/PNG connection
24. Main fuel used for cooking
25. Radio/transistor
26. Television
27. Access to Internet
28. Laptop/computer
29. Telephone/mobile phone/smartphone
30. Bicycle/scooter/motorcycle/moped
31. Car/jeep/van
32. Main cereal consumed in the household
33. Mobile number (for Census-related communications only).

Census 2027 will also capture caste data electronically in the population enumeration phase, the government had said earlier. In the first-ever digital Census, conducted by around 30 lakh enumerators, data will be collected using mobile applications that will be available for both Android and iOS versions to ensure better quality data.

The pre-test for the first phase of the Census took place from November 10-30, 2025, in select areas, gathering responses to 35 questions about housing materials, main cereals consumed, sources of drinking water and cooking fuel and the number of married couples in the household.

(With PTI inpiuts)