India to Conduct Population Census 2027 in Two Phases, Will Include Caste Enumeration

New Delhi: The Government of India will conduct the next national Population Census in 2027, which will also include the enumeration of castes—marking a historic step in India’s demographic data collection after nearly a century. The exercise will be carried out in two phases, with the reference date set as 00:00 hours on March 1, 2027, for most parts of the country.

For regions with difficult terrain and weather constraints—specifically the Union Territory of Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand—the census reference date will be 00:00 hours on October 1, 2026. The official notification announcing the government’s intent to carry out the census will be published in the Gazette of India on June 16, 2025, under Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948.

The decennial census is conducted under the legal framework of the Census Act, 1948, and the Census Rules, 1990. The last successfully completed census took place in 2011 and followed a two-phase model—first, the House Listing and Housing Census from April to September 2010, followed by the Population Enumeration in February 2011. Snow-bound areas had a separate timeline in September 2010, with a reference date of October 1 that year.

Preparations for Census 2021 had been in full swing when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a nationwide postponement. Field operations were set to begin in April 2020 in some states and union territories, but public health concerns led to indefinite delays.

The inclusion of caste enumeration in the 2027 Census is especially significant. It will be the first such exercise since 1931 to formally record caste data at the national level, responding to long-standing public and political demand for updated and comprehensive socio-economic profiles of India’s diverse population.