New Delhi: The houselisting operations for the forthcoming Census will begin from April 1, 2026, marking the start of the first phase of the decennial exercise, the Registrar General of India has said.
In a letter to chief secretaries of states and Union Territories, Census Commissioner and Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said the Houselisting Operations and Housing Census shall begin on April 1, 2026.
Before that the appointment of supervisors, enumerators and work distribution among them shall be done with cooperation from states and district administration, it said.
The Census is a two-phase exercise -- in phase one i.e. Houselisting Operation (HLO), the housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household will be collected.
Subsequently, in the second phase i.e. Population Enumeration (PE), the demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household will be collected which is scheduled for February 1, 2027, according to the letter.
In the Census, Caste enumeration will also be done, a government statement had said.
For Census activities, over 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors and around 1.3 lakh Census functionaries would be deployed.
It is the 16th Census till now and the eighth after independence.