NEW DELHI: The much-awaited Census exercise with caste enumeration will finally begin from October next year, government officials said on Wednesday, adding that it will first be carried out in snowbound states and union territories (UT), and then in the entire country from March 2027.
“It has been decided to conduct population census-2027 in two phases along with enumeration of castes. The reference date for Population Census - 2027 will be 00:00 hours of the first day of March 2027,” a statement issued by the union home ministry (MHA) on Wednesday said.
“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,” it added.
The ministry further said that the notification for the intent of conducting the population census with these reference dates will be published in the official gazette tentatively on June 16, 2025, as per the provision of Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948.
“The Census of India is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990. The last census of India was conducted in 2011 in two phases; house listing (HLO) (1 April to 30 September 2010) and Phase II – population enumeration (PE) (from February 9 to 28 February 2011) with reference date - 00:00 hours of the first day of March 2011, except for snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh for which it was conducted during 11 to 30 September, 2010 with reference date as 00.00 hours of the first day of October 2010,” MHA said.
{{/usCountry}}“The Census of India is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990. The last census of India was conducted in 2011 in two phases; house listing (HLO) (1 April to 30 September 2010) and Phase II – population enumeration (PE) (from February 9 to 28 February 2011) with reference date - 00:00 hours of the first day of March 2011, except for snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh for which it was conducted during 11 to 30 September, 2010 with reference date as 00.00 hours of the first day of October 2010,” MHA said.
{{/usCountry}}Census 2021 was also proposed to be conducted in two phases in a similar manner, with Phase I during April–September 2020 and the second phase in February 2021. “All the preparations for the first phase of the Census to be conducted in 2021 were completed, and field work was scheduled to begin in some states/UTs from April 1, 2020. However, due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic across the country, the census work was postponed,” it added.
The government had announced in late April that caste-based enumeration will be a part of the next decadal census.
The decision was taken by the high-powered cabinet committee on political affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was hailed by political parties across the board.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had attributed the decision to the government’s social justice agenda, but the Opposition said its sustained pressure forced the administration to buckle on a sensitive topic that was a key issue of the 2024 general election campaign.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs has decided today that caste enumeration should be included with the forthcoming census. It demonstrates that the government is committed to the values and interests of the society,” union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on April 30.
Bihar, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh have conducted caste surveys in the last three years, while Karnataka is mulling the release of data from a survey conducted in 2015. All states were ruled by non-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) dispensations when the surveys were done.
In March this year, the union home ministry had informed a parliamentary standing committee that the preparatory activities for the decadal exercise have been completed. The ministry was clarifying the reasons for the reduced allocation from ₹1,309 crore in 2024–25 to ₹574 crore in 2025–26 for the census.
The census is the 16th such exercise since the British rule era.
The first synchronous census in India was held in 1881. Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every 10 years. It is the biggest source of information on demographic, socio-economic, and other parameters of the entire population of India.
This data is used for planning and policymaking and provides valuable inputs about the impact of government policies. The data is also used to demarcate constituencies and allocate state-wise representation in Parliament.
According to officials, Census 2021 will also be the first digital census. A mobile app for collection of data and a census portal for management and monitoring of various census-related activities has already been developed.