The first phase of India’s Census 2027, focusing on houselisting operations, is scheduled to take place between April 1 and September 30, 2026, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Each state and Union Territory will specify a 30-day window for the exercise, which forms the foundational step for the decadal population enumeration.
For the first time, the government is offering an option for self-enumeration, allowing households to submit their details electronically within a 15-day period immediately preceding the start of the official houselisting operations. This initiative aims to improve accuracy and participation while streamlining data collection across the country.
The Census 2027 had been originally scheduled for 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The mammoth exercise will now be conducted in two phases: the houselisting and housing census from April to September 2026, followed by the population enumeration in February 2027. This systematic process will record all houses, households, and structures across India to prepare a reliable database for population analysis.
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Significantly, Census 2027 will also include caste data for the first time since Independence, with information to be captured electronically during the population enumeration phase. The last official caste-based count was conducted during British rule between 1881 and 1931. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs approved the inclusion of caste data in April 2025 to provide updated demographic insights.
The upcoming census will be India’s first fully digital exercise, with approximately 30 lakh enumerators collecting data using mobile applications available on Android and iOS platforms. According to the Census 2011, India’s population stood at 1.21 billion, with males constituting 51.54 per cent and females 48.46 per cent of the total, highlighting the scale and significance of the 2027 exercise.
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