India's Census To Start In March 2027 In Two Phases, Caste Data To Be Included

India's long-delayed decennial census will start on March 1, 2027, and will be held in two phases, the government announced on Wednesday.

The census in union territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir as well as Himalayan states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will start early from October 2026.

The census will be conducted over two phases and will contain a significant addition to the long list of questions asked of men and women nationwide — those on caste and sub-castes.

The notification for census 2027 will be published in the official gazette tentatively on June 16 as per provision of section 3 of the Census Act 1948, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

The decennial census, last conducted in 2011, was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.

The 2011 census was held in two phases — Phase I involved House Listing (HLO) from April to September 2010 and Phase II involved Population Enumeration (PE) in February 2011.

"Census 2021 was also proposed to be conducted in two phases in a similar manner with phase I during April-September 2020 and the second phase in February 2021. All the preparations for the first phase of the Census to be conducted in 2021 were completed and fieldwork was scheduled to begin in some States/UTs from April 1, 2020. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic across the country, the census work was postponed," the MHA said.

India has conducted its national census every decade since 1881. The upcoming census will be digital, enabling citizens to provide household data.

In April, the Narendra Modi government announced it would conduct a caste enumeration as part of the forthcoming census.

Notably, state-centric caste surveys have been conducted by the Congress-run Karnataka and Telangana governments, and the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government.

The decision to include caste enumeration in the census — a demand pressed fiercely by the opposition — was announced months before a critical Bihar assembly elections where over 63% of the population belong to Extremely Backward or Backward classes.

The 2027 census, when it is held, will be the first in 16 years.