After 16 years, Centre announces two-phase Census in 2027 with caste enumeration

It has been decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with the enumeration of castes, the Union Home Ministry announced on Wednesday.

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 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 last comprehensive caste-based count was done by the British between 1881 and 1931. The Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) conducted in 2011 under the UPA government did collect caste data, but it was never fully published or utilised.

Bihar and Telangana have conducted caste surveys in the last three years.

The Home Ministry said the notification for the intent of conducting the Population Census with the reference dates will be published in the official gazette “tentatively on 16.06.2025, as per provision of section 3 of Census Act 1948”.

Officials said the second and final phase of the census will begin in February 2027 and conclude on March 1, 2027 (reference date).

It is immediately not clear whether the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR) will be carried out along with the Census or not. The government was planning to do it along with the Census in 2020 but the exercise was postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Even though the reference dates for the Census are October 1, 2026 (for snow-bound areas) and March 1, 2027 (for rest of India), the house listing phase is likely to start by April 2026. Prior to that, the enumerators and supervisors will be given training for the smooth conduct of the exercise.

The Census of India is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990.

The last Census was conducted in 2011 in two phases: Phase I of House Listing from April 1 to September 30, 2010) and Phase II of Population Enumeration (February 9 to 28, 2011).

Census 2021 was also proposed to be conducted in two phases with phase I during April-September 2020 and the second phase in February 2021.

All preparations for the first phase of the Census to be conducted in 2021 were completed and the fieldwork 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.

The government recently decided that it will carry our caste enumeration along with the census. It will also be the first digital census giving the citizens an opportunity to self-enumerate.

The entire Census exercise is likely to cost the government over Rs 13,000 crore.

-PTI