The Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday (June 16) issued a notification for conducting India’s 16th census with caste enumeration in 2027, 16 years after the last such exercise in 2011.
The census 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 notification said.
“The reference date for the said census shall be 00.00 hours of the 1st day of 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,” it said.
The official gazette, issued on June 16, 2025, said that the census will take place under the powers conferred by section 3 of the Census Act, 1948.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday reviewed the preparations for the forthcoming census with Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and other senior officials. According to the Home Ministry, India’s 16th census since inception and 8th since Independence will be carried out soon.
The census will be conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the Housing Listing Operation (HLO), data related to housing conditions, assets, and household amenities will be collected.
In the second phase, the Population Enumeration (PE), details on demographic, socio-economic, cultural, and other aspects of every person will be gathered.
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The Home Ministry stated that caste enumeration will also be carried out during the census. For the operations, approximately 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors, along with around 1.3 lakh census functionaries will be deployed.
