Govt announces schedule of India's 16th Census in 2027 along with caste enumeration

THE 2027 Census with caste enumeration will be carried out with the reference date of October 1, 2026 in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and of March 1, 2027 in the rest of the country, the Home Ministry announced on Wednesday.

- PBD BUREAU

It has been decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with the enumeration of castes, it said.

"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 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 ministry said in a statement.

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", it said.

Officials said the second and final phase of the census will begin in February 2027 and conclude on 01 March 2027 (reference date).