The Government of India has announced that the next Population Census will begin on March 1, 2027, with caste enumeration also included, meeting a key Opposition demand.
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PTI
The Centre on Wednesday announced that it will count its population by March 1, 2027. The Ministry of Home Affairs said the caste census, a long-standing demand of the Opposition, will also be part of the process.
India will be counting its people after a gap of 17 years and this will be the first digital Census. The last Census was held in 2011 and the subsequent exercise in 2021 was delayed indefinitely, initially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Census will be conducted in two phases by February 28, 2027 and the data will gave a reference date of 12 a.m. on March 1, 2027. For the Union Territory of Ladakh and the non-synchronous snow-bound areas of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date for the population count will be 12 a.m. on October 1, 2026.
However, the government has not yet notified the date of commencement of the exercise. “The notification for intent of conducting Population Census with the above reference dates will be published in the official gazette tentatively on 16.06.2025, as per provision of section 3 of Census Act 1948,” a government statement said.
The Census of India is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990.
The MHA announcement, however, is silent on the National Population Register (NPR), which contains details of persons residing in village, rural and urban areas. The NPR data was last collected in 2010, prior to the last Census carried out in 2011, and revised later in 2015.
Section 14A of the Indian Citizenship Act, 2003, empowers the Centre to compulsorily register citizens, issue them national identity cards, and establish a National Registration Authority to maintain the register.
“To incorporate the changes due to birth, death and migration, the NPR would be updated along with House listing and Housing Operations of forthcoming Census,” the official website of Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, stated.
Published on June 4, 2025