New Delhi: The much-delayed census will begin next year.
The two-phase process to enumerate the country’s population, and critical socio-economic details, will kick off in October 2026 in the snow-bound states and union territories of Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
For the rest of the country, the exercise will begin on March 1, 2027.
“The Census of India is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990. The reference date for Population Census – 2027 will be 00:00 hours of the first day of March 2027, said an official statement.
“For the Union Territory of Ladakh and the non-synchronous snow-bound areas of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be 00.00 hours of the first day of October 2026,” the statement said.
The notification for the intent of conducting the Population Census with these reference dates will be published in the official gazette “tentatively on 16.06.2025, as per provision of section 3 of Census Act 1948.”
This time, the census will be different in the sense that there will be an addition to the list of questions, including those on caste and sub-castes.
The Central government confirmed on April 30 that questions on caste — enumeration of various castes and sub-castes, and number of people in each of those — will be part of the next census.
The Opposition had long been demanding a caste census across the country.
Bihar conducted a caste-based survey in 2023, according to which over 63 per cent of the state’s population comes from extremely backward or backward classes.
Census in India, normally conducted every decade, was last held in 2011.
The next one was due in 2021, but had to be put off because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hence the 2027 census will be the first one in 16 years.
