The central government on Monday issued a notification for the population census, which will begin in March 2027.
According to a Gazette notification released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, “Using the powers given under Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948, and cancelling the earlier notification issued on 26th March 2018, the Government of India has announced that the population census of India will be carried out during the year 2027.”
The reference date for the census will be 1st March 2027, except for the snow-affected non-synchronous areas of the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir, and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
On 15th June, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the preparations for the upcoming census during a meeting held in New Delhi. The meeting was attended by the Home Secretary, the Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI), and other senior officials.
The Gazette notification for the census will be issued on Tuesday.
In a post on X, Amit Shah said, “Reviewed the preparations for the 16th Census along with senior officials. The Gazette notification for the census will be issued on Tuesday. For the first time, this census will also include a caste-based count. Around 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors, along with nearly 1.3 lakh census officers, will be involved in this massive exercise. They will use state-of-the-art mobile digital devices.”
First Phase: House Listing Operation (HLO) – In this phase, information will be collected about the housing condition, properties, and available facilities of each household.
Second Phase: Population Enumeration (PE) – This phase will gather demographic, socio-economic, cultural, and other personal details of each individual.
This time, the census will be conducted digitally through a mobile app.
Citizens will also be given the option of self-enumeration. To ensure the security of data during collection, transmission, and storage, strict data protection measures will be implemented. This will be the 16th census overall, and the 8th census after Independence.
