Census trainers flag queries on Aadhaar, caste, age and birthplace of parents as key challenges

At a large hall being used for a training session for Census enumerators in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday (October 29, 2026), a field trainer explains the importance of Question Number 37, which seeks the respondent’s Aadhaar number.

“If any respondent creates an issue, they need to be told that the particular question is only to find out how many people have an Aadhaar. They are to be told clearly that we are not seeking their bank account details and Aadhaar cannot be used without biometrics anyway,” the trainer announces on a microphone as more than 50 enumerators, mostly school teachers, listen with rapt attention.

This is one of hundreds of training sessions being carried out across Uttar Pradesh and three other poll-bound States, before they begin door-to-door enumeration on December 1, for the second phase of Census 2027. The rest of the country will undergo the same exercise in February 2027. In preparation for the challenging task ahead, trainers flag the thorniest questions, including new queries on caste, age and place of birth of parents, and of course, Aadhaar.

The Aadhaar-citizenship link

At one particular session attended by The Hindu — whose precise location has been withheld to protect the identity of Census officials — the trainer suggests that enumerators offer hesitant respondents an interesting incentive to coax them to share their Aadhaar data.

“At present, there is no single document that proves citizenship. If we get the accurate information during Census, then in the future, this document may act as a proof of citizenship,” the trainer says, adding that any information provided during the Census is confidential.

The government has consistently maintained that Aadhaar is not a proof of citizenship, and a senior Census official told The Hindu that “no such instructions” have been passed to the trainers.

“There is no instruction to link Aadhaar with citizenship test. The question is optional, if a person says that he or she has or even does not have Aadhaar, it will be recorded as such. The enumerator will ask for the Aadhaar number and if the respondent does not want to provide the details, the question can be skipped. The particular field trainer may have had some misconception,” the Census official said.