New Delhi: The Union government has officially notified the 2027 census, marking the first time since Independence that caste data will be collected as part of the decennial population count. The extensive exercise, India’s 16th national census and the eighth since 1947, will involve digital technology, two-phased enumeration, and an estimated cost of over Rs 13,000 crore.
According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday, the reference date for the census will be March 1, 2027, for most of the country. However, for snow-bound areas such as Ladakh, and specific regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, the date will be October 1, 2026.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday to assess the preparations. The meeting was attended by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, and other senior officials. The government said the upcoming exercise would be conducted with the help of approximately 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors, assisted by around 1.3 lakh digital census functionaries.
A key feature of the upcoming census is the inclusion of caste enumeration, which has not been part of the decennial process since 1931, when the British administration last conducted a comprehensive caste-based census. Post-Independence censuses have excluded caste data, barring enumeration of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
“The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, took the decision to include caste enumeration on April 30,” an official familiar with the development said. “The inclusion is seen as essential to ensure all sections of society are represented accurately and data-driven welfare policies can be framed.”
The last attempt to gather caste-related data was during the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) of 2011 under the UPA government. While data on caste was collected, it was neither officially published nor used for policy decisions. Officials pointed out that several state-led surveys in recent years have suffered from inconsistencies and lacked national coordination.
“State-level surveys have often led to confusion, being seen as politically motivated,” said a senior official, who added that integrating caste enumeration with the main census will improve reliability.
The 2027 census will be carried out in two phases: house-listing operations, followed by population enumeration. The first phase will record data related to housing conditions, availability of drinking water, electricity, assets, and other amenities. The second will gather demographic, economic, and cultural data on every individual.
Citizens will be asked about their access to telecommunication devices, ownership of vehicles, usage of cereals, type of housing, and caste affiliation. A provision for self-enumeration will be made available through digital platforms, allowing respondents to submit their data directly.
The Home Ministry also assured stringent data security protocols, covering all stages from collection to storage. Training for the enumerators is expected to begin in October 2025, nearly a year before fieldwork starts. The government will appoint 100 national-level trainers, who will train 1,800 master trainers, who in turn will prepare 45,000 field trainers. These field trainers will then train the lakhs of enumerators and supervisors.
The previous census, scheduled for 2021, was indefinitely delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was initially planned to begin on April 1, 2020, along with an update to the National Population Register (NPR). The current notification for the 2027 census, however, does not clarify whether the NPR will be updated alongside.
India’s last census, held in 2011, recorded a population of 1.21 billion, with males comprising 51.54 per cent and females 48.46 per cent. Since then, policymakers, researchers, and social welfare agencies have repeatedly flagged the growing gap in data on migration, urbanisation, and social stratification.
“The census is the cornerstone of planning and resource allocation in a country of our size and diversity,” a senior Census Commissioner official said. “We are introducing updated digital methods to reduce errors and improve efficiency.”
Digital tablets will replace paper schedules used in previous rounds, and the process is expected to improve speed and reduce chances of duplication or loss of data.
While the census operations are scheduled with reference dates in 2026 and 2027, the house-listing phase may begin as early as April 2026, depending on the completion of training and distribution of devices.
Experts believe the census data, particularly with caste enumeration included, could influence future decisions in areas such as reservation policies, funding for welfare schemes, and redrawing of electoral constituencies.
The Ministry is expected to provide further clarity on timelines, questionnaires, and technical readiness in the coming months.