Government announces census across India to begin on March 1, 2027

The exercise will include caste data too.

STC NEWS MONITORING DESK
SRINAGAR, JUNE 04 (STC): India’s next census will begin from March 1, 2027, reports quoting union government officials said.
Census is an exercise to count population and along with caste enumeration in the country – the world’s most populated country in the world.
According to the reports, the exercise will, however, begin in October 2026 in snow-bound states and union territories, including Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
The officials have told media that the census exercise will be conducted over two phases. It will take about three years and the final data of the 2027 Census will be published around 2030, after the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said, “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.”
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 MHA said.
“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,” it said.
This means delimitation will be held after 2030. This will be followed by implementation of Women Reservation and One Nation, One Election or simultaneous elections.
Notably, the last census was done in India in 2011. The Census is a decennial population-based survey that has been conducted 15 times until 2011. A pan-India census, due in 2021, was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(STC).