Government Sets Timeline for 2027 Census, Confirms Caste Enumeration

To be held in two phases, beginning Oct 1, 2026

- OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday announced that the 2027 Census of India, which will include caste enumeration, will be conducted in two phases, with March 1, 2027, as the national reference date and October 1, 2026, as the reference date for snow-bound regions.

The census, postponed from its original 2021 schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will mark the first time caste data is officially collected since Independence. The ministry, in its official statement, confirmed: "The reference date for Population Census — 2027 will be 00:00 hours of the first day of March 2027. For the Union Territory of Ladakh and 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 October 1, 2026."

The Census is being carried out after a gap of 16 years as the last one was held in 2011. Over 30 lakh enumerators and their supervisors are likely to be engaged to carry out the mega exercise.

The population of the country as per the Census 2011 was 1210.19 million of which 623.72 million (51.54 per cent) were males and 586.46 million (48.46 per cent) were females.

The Home Ministry added that the notification for conducting the Census with these dates is expected to be published in the official gazette on June 16, 2025, in accordance with Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948.

According to officials familiar with the planning, the first phase of the census will begin in the snow-bound regions in late 2026, followed by the second and final phase across the rest of the country in February 2027. This phase is scheduled to conclude on the reference date of March 1, 2027.