Census: Population enumeration in 4 poll-bound states from Dec 1, 2026 to Jan 4, 2027

New Delhi: Population enumeration for Census 2027 will take place in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and parts of Uttarakhand from December 1, 2026, to January 4, 2027, the Registrar General of India said on Saturday, advancing the exercise in the states likely to go to polls early next year.

In a gazette notification, the Registrar General of India (RGI) and Census Commissioner of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said the citizens in these areas can avail the option for self-enumeration from November 16 to November 30, 2026.

"The conduct of the Census of the population shall be undertaken in the States of Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and areas other than snow-bound areas of the State of Uttarakhand, from 1st December, 2026 to 4th January, 2027 with a revisional round from 5th January, 2027 to 9th January, 2027," the notification said.


"For the Union territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date shall be 00:00 hours of the 1st day of October, 2026," it said.

According to a gazette notification issued last month, the population enumeration in Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand would take place from September 1 to 30.

The self-enumeration window was opened for these regions from August 17 to 31.

In June last year, the government had announced the Census reference date for the country, except for Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, to be 00.00 hours of March 1, 2027.

The population enumeration for the remaining country is likely to begin in February next year, barring snow-bound regions, during which data on various demographic, socio-cultural and economic parameters, along with migration and fertility characteristics of individuals from each household, will be collected.

The terms of the state assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will end by May 2027, and they are likely to go to polls early next year.

A wide range of government servants, primarily teachers, are engaged in the Census exercise and elections, which makes it difficult to conduct the two exercises simultaneously, an official said.

The central government has also deferred the house-listing operations for Census 2027 for Manipur, another notification issued by RGI on Saturday said.

The Census, the eighth since independence, is being conducted in two phases -- the first stage is known as house listing and housing census, and the second is population enumeration.

The decennial exercise, scheduled for 2021, was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Union Cabinet has approved Rs 11,718 crore for conducting the Census, which will be the biggest headcount exercise.