Census: Casteist Slur in Form Triggers Storm; Teachers Object to Duties

May

2026

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has directed the Director of Census Operations, Panjab, Navjot Khosa to submit a report within 15 days on a complaint alleging the use of ‘casteist words’ in official lists prepared for the upcoming Census exercise. On May 14, the NCSC took cognizance of a complaint by Hardeep Singh Gill, vice-chairperson of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (sanitation workers), alleging use of derogatory caste references in documents meant for census operations. NCSC has asked Khosa to submit an action-taken report against those responsible for including these words in the document. Responding to NCSC, Khosa said, ‘The proforma we have given to the enumerators has been in use since 1950. There are 39 castes in Panjab. The proforma is meant to ask the people about their castes. It is not being used as a slur.’ She also added that this proforma was in practice even in the 2011 census and that no new caste has been added in it. However, soon after receiving the notice, Panjab government decided to delete the controversial terminology. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann cleared a proposal moved by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment to remove two caste-indicative words from the survey format and replace them with the word Valmiki. Panjab, with the highest Dalit (marginalized caste) population in India and history of caste-related assertions, remains sensitive to any perceived caste-based slurs. Meanwhile, Panjab’s first-ever Drug and Socio-Economic Census 2026—launched to assess the extent of the drug problem in the state—has triggered a political storm. Teachers conducting the survey allege that a large chunk of the questionnaire resembles a feedback survey on the Aam Aadmi Party government’s schemes ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. For example, one question asks respondents if they observed improvement in canal water supply after the Mann government came to power in 2022. The drug survey is expected to cover nearly 6.5M households across Panjab through 28K government employees over a period of three months. Teachers conducting the survey allege they have been instructed not to count alcoholics as addicts. A teacher, Ram Singh, suffered a paralysis attack while conducting the survey alone in scorching heat in Ludhiana district, while 40 teachers were issued notice in Patiala district for skipping Census duty (earlier coverage).