Census to begin Feb 2027, March 1 set as reference date

The much-delayed 16th Census exercise, along with caste enumeration, will be carried out with a reference date of October 1, 2026 in snow-bound areas like Ladakh, and March 1, 2027 in the rest of the country, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced on Wednesday.

According to officials, the process will begin with the issuance of a notification, which is tentatively scheduled to be published in the official gazette on June 16, 2025, under Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948. The final phase of enumeration will begin in February 2027 and conclude on March 1, 2027, which will serve as the national reference date.

"It has been decided to conduct Population Census 2027 in two phases, along with enumeration of castes. The reference date will be 00:00 hours of March 1, 2027," the MHA said in a statement.


For Ladakh and other non-synchronous, snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be 00:00 hours of October 1, 2026, the ministry added.

The Census of India is carried out under provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990. The last census was conducted in 2011 in two phases.

Census 2021 was also scheduled in two phases-April to September 2020, and February 2021. While preparations were completed for the first phase, the fieldwork set to begin on April 1, 2020, was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19, and later due to the 2024 general elections.

The government has now decided to carry out caste enumeration along with the census. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting in April 2024. The Registrar General of India is expected to introduce a column for caste, in addition to other demographic data, officials said.

No reason to delay Census for another 23 months: Cong

Soon after the Centre announced the Census schedule, the Congress said there is no reason to delay the exercise for another 23 months and alleged that the Modi government does not meet deadlines.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said, "There is really no reason to delay the Census that was due in 2021 for another twenty three months. The Modi Government is capable only of generating headlines, not meeting deadlines."