Govt Issues Notification for Census, to Start in '27

The Centre on Monday issued a notification for conducting the 16th Census, thereby formally initiating the preparatory work for the largest population counting exercise after a gap of 16 years.

- Neeraj Chauhan

NEW DELHI:

“The Central government hereby declares that a census of the population of India shall be taken during the year 2027. The reference date for the said census shall be 00.00 hours of the 1st day of March, 2027, except for the union territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” said the notification issued by the Office of Registrar General of India or ORGI.

“In respect of the UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date shall be 00:00 hours of the 1st day of October, 2026,” it added.

Customarily, once a gazette notification for intent of conducting Census is issued, there are various preparatory areas on which detailed discussions take place, including with data users, training of enumerators, etc., but officials familiar with upcoming Census said, “most of these activities have already been completed since between 2021 and now”.