The 2027 Census will be carried out in two phases, with the first scheduled between April and September 2026 and the second in February 2027, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Responding to a question from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said the exercise will begin with Phase I – House Listing and Housing Census, followed by Phase II – Population Enumeration (PE).
The first phase, to be conducted over 30 days, will be carried out anytime between April and September 2026, depending on the convenience of state and Union Territory administrations, he said.
“Population Enumeration will be done in February 2027 with reference date 00:00
hours of 1st March, 2027 except for the Union territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where it will be done in September, 2026 with reference date 00.00 hours of 1st October, 2026,” he said.
Rai said the census questionnaire is finalised after considering inputs and suggestions from various ministries, departments, organisations and data users. He noted that the census has a history of more than 150 years, and insights from past exercises are incorporated into each new round.
In response to a separate question, the minister said caste enumeration will also be undertaken, as approved by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on April 30 this year.
He added that Census 2027 will be conducted digitally, with data collected through mobile applications and an option for self-enumeration available to the public.
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“Data to be collected through Mobile Apps along with an online provision for self-enumeration. The entire process is to be monitored through a web portal. The pre-test of the first phase of the Census, that is, House listing and Housing Census has been organised as per the Gazette notification dated 16th October, 2025 in the selected sample areas in the States and UTs,” he said.
