India's next census to begin in April 2026; Centre clears two-phase caste enumeration
The Centre detailed the next census plan, outlining separate timelines for house listing and population data, along with digital tools and caste enumeration
The Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, on December 02, informed the Lok Sabha that Census 2027 would be conducted in two phases.
According to Rai, the first phase would take place between April and September 2026 and the second phase in February 2027.
On the second day of the ongoing winter session in the Parliament, Rai responded to a question raised by Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi. Rai in his response, further noted that Phase I is scheduled for House Listing and Housing Census, followed by Phase II—Population Enumeration (PE).
First phase of census
The first phase, from April to September 2026, will be conducted over a period of 30 days in accordance with the convenience of the state/UT governments.
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"Population Enumeration will be conducted in February 2027 with reference date 00:00 hours on 1st 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, where it will be done in September, 2026 with reference date 00.00 hours of 1st October, 2026," Rai said.
Caste census
He also noted that the census questionnaire is finalised based on inputs and suggestions from different ministries, departments, organisations and census data users before each exercise, adding that the census had a history of more than 150 years and learning from previous exercises was taken into consideration for conducting the next census.
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In a separate response, Rai said caste enumeration would also be done in the census as decided by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on April 30 this year.
In another response, Rai said Census 2027 would be conducted through digital means, in which data would be collected through mobile apps along with an online provision for self-enumeration.