New Delhi | June 4: The Government of India has officially announced that the Population Census 2027 will begin on March 1, 2027, and will be conducted in two distinct phases, including the long-awaited caste enumeration.
For most parts of the country, the reference date will be midnight of March 1, 2027, while in snow-bound regions such as Ladakh, parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, the reference date is set earlier — October 1, 2026 — to accommodate weather conditions.
The announcement was made on June 4, and a formal notification is expected around June 16, 2025, to be published in the Official Gazette under Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948. The census will strictly follow the provisions and protocols outlined in the Census Act and associated rules.
India’s last national census was conducted in 2011, with the house listing phase taking place between April and September 2010, followed by population enumeration in February 2011. At that time as well, snow-bound regions had a reference date of October 1, 2010.
The 2021 census was originally scheduled to follow a similar format but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite full preparation and a scheduled launch in April 2020.
This upcoming census marks a major administrative effort to update population data and include caste-based statistics, which many believe will aid in social welfare planning and policymaking.
