The Centre has notified the schedule for Census 2027, with nationwide house-to-house enumeration set from January 25 to February 28, 2027. Citizens can self-enumerate online from January 10-24, while poll-bound states and certain snow-bound regions have been excluded for now and will be covered separately.
Population enumeration for Census 2027 will be conducted in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and non-snow-bound Uttarakhand from December 1, 2026, to January 4, 2027. Self-enumeration will run from November 16 to 30, with a revisional round following the exercise
The government’s open-ended approach to recording caste responses could create major challenges in standardising millions of entries, raising concerns over data quality and verification
The Centre has notified 40 questions for the population enumeration phase of the Census, including caste and Covid vaccination details. Enumeration in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will begin September 1, with self-enumeration preceding it
Director of Census Operations Bharati Hollikeri said Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, including house listing and population enumeration. About 88,000 staff will participate in the exercise, while all data collected will remain confidential under the Census Act.
Census 2027 in India will be conducted in two phases: House Listing and Housing Census (April–September 2026) and Population Enumeration (February 2027), including caste data, using digital tools and mobile apps, with adaptations for snow-bound and special regions
