New Delhi: The Centre has formally notified the list of 33 questions that will be asked during the first phase of India’s upcoming Census 2027, marking a key step in preparations for the long-delayed decennial population count.
The first phase — known as the Houselisting and Housing Operation (HLO) — is scheduled to begin on April 1, 2026. This phase will involve visiting households across the country to record details about housing conditions, amenities and other structural information.
Expanded Questionnaire Includes New Metrics
The 33-item questionnaire, published in the official gazette by Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, retains many traditional housing questions but introduces new areas of enquiry reflecting contemporary life and infrastructure.
New additions include:
Questions on access to the internet and ownership of electronic devices such as laptops, computers and smartphones;
Inquiry about the main cereal consumed in the household;
A field for providing a mobile number for census-related communication.
At the same time, the questionnaire drops a question on banking services that had been included in the 2011 census.
What the Phase One Survey Will Cover
Enumerators will collect detailed information on each household, including:
Structural characteristics of the house such as flooring, walls and roofing materials;
Ownership status and condition of the house;
Basic amenities like sources of drinking water, latrine access, waste disposal, bathing facilities and cooking fuel;
Possession of transport and communication assets, including bicycles, scooters, vehicles and phones;
Household composition, including number of residents and married couples, and details about the head of household such as name, sex and whether they belong to a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or other category.
Self-Enumeration Option and Next Steps
To improve participation, the government has provided for a 15-day self-enumeration window before the 30-day houselisting operation begins. Respondents are expected to answer all questions to the “best of his knowledge or belief,” according to the notification.
Census 2027 will be carried out in two phases. Following the houselisting survey, the second phase — Population Enumeration — will start on February 1, 2027 and will collect demographic, socio-economic and cultural information. Officials have also confirmed that caste data will be captured electronically during this phase.
The 2027 census marks the 16th Census of India and was originally due in 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The inclusion of caste enumeration was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs in April 2025. While data collection is targeted to finish by March 1, 2027, the final collation and publication of results is expected to take an additional two to three years.
