New Delhi: The Union government on Tuesday informed Parliament that the Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, with the first phase scheduled between April and September 2026, followed by the second phase in February 2027.
Responding to a question by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said the first phase will cover House Listing and Housing Census, while the second phase will involve Population Enumeration (PE).
The first phase, spanning April to September 2026, will be carried out over 30 days, as per the convenience of individual state and Union Territory governments.
“Population Enumeration will take place in February 2027, with the reference date being 00:00 hours of March 1, 2027, except for the Union Territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, where it will be conducted in September 2026, with the reference date 00:00 hours of October 1, 2026,” Rai added.
He noted that the census questionnaire has been prepared after consultations with various ministries, departments, and organisations, and that lessons learned from previous census exercises—spanning over 150 years—have been incorporated into the planning for the next census.
Answering a separate question, Rai confirmed that caste enumeration will also be included in the census.
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Census 2027 will be conducted digitally, with data collected through mobile apps and an online self-enumeration option for residents.
Earlier in April, the government had announced that caste data would be enumerated alongside the decadal census but had not specified a timeline. A nationwide caste census has long been a demand of opposition parties and was a central issue during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.