India’s next national census, the first in 16 years and also the first-ever digital one, will begin at midnight on October 1, 2026. The initial round of population counting will start in four northern regions – Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, the government announced on Monday.

Nationwide count begins in 2027

For the rest of the country, the census will officially start from March 1, 2027. The delay comes after the 2021 census was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making this the first population count since 2011.

Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a review meeting on census preparations with the Home Secretary, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, and other top officials.

Two-phase process: Housing first, people next

Officials explained that the census will be done in two parts:

  1. House listing operation (HLO): This phase gathers details about each household’s living conditions, like what kind of home they live in and the amenities they have.

  2. Population enumeration (PE): This phase collects demographic and personal data, including caste, religion, economic background, and cultural information.

It is in this second phase that people will be asked to state their caste, which is a key part of the 2027 count.

On April 30, the government confirmed that this census will include data about all castes and sub-castes in the country. This decision comes ahead of major elections in states like Bihar, where over 63% of people belong to Backward or Extremely Backward classes.

The government has clarified that the census will record caste, not class. Every individual will need to mention their caste and religion in the second phase.

Sources explained that, unlike Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), there isn’t a single, uniform list for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The central government has one list, maintained by the National Commission for Backward Classes, which is used for central job and education quotas. But each state has its list of OBCs, which is often longer.

This will also be India’s first digital census, allowing people to fill in their own information online through a self-enumeration process. This aims to make participation easier and more efficient.

Opposition parties have long called for an updated census, saying it’s essential for building accurate, evidence-based policies. With over a decade since the last count, they argue that the country urgently needs updated population and social data.

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