New Delhi, June 16
The Central government on Monday notified the Population census, the process of which will begin in March 2027.
As per a gazette notification released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, "In exercise of the powers conferred by Section three of the Census Act 1948 and in suppression of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Home Affairs dated March 26, 2018, the Central Government declared that a census of the population of India shall be taken during the year 2027, as per a circular released by the Ministry of Home Affairs."
The reference date for the census shall be March 1, 2027, except for the Union territory of Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Furthermore, the reference date for the Union Territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will be October 1, 2026.
On June 15, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the preparations for the upcoming Census during a meeting in New Delhi along with Union Home Secretary, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG& CCI) and other senior officials.
Sharing the details in a post on X, Amit Shah said, "Reviewed the preparations for the 16th Census with senior officials. Tomorrow, the gazette notification of the census will be issued. The census will include caste enumeration for the first time. As many as 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors and around 1.3 lakh census functionaries will conduct the operation with cutting-edge mobile digital gadgets.
"The Census will be conducted in two phases. In phase 1, House Listing Operation (HLO), the housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household will be collected.
Subsequently, in the second phase, Population Enumeration (PE), the demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household will be collected. In the Census, Caste enumeration will also be done.
For Census activities, about 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors and around 1.3 lakh Census functionaries would be deployed. This is the 16th Census since its beginning and the 8th since independence.
The ensuing Census will be conducted through digital means using mobile applications. Provision of Self-enumeration would also be made available to the people.
Very stringent data security measures would be kept in place to ensure data security at the time of collection, transmission and storage.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Finally caste census is happening! This data is crucial for equitable policy making. Hope they maintain complete transparency and use this to better target welfare schemes. Digital approach sounds promising 🤞
Why so much delay in conducting census? Last one was in 2011. We're making policies with decade-old data. Should have been done in 2021 itself. Better late than never I guess.
Concerned about data privacy though. Hope they implement strong security measures as promised. With Aadhaar leaks happening, can't afford another data breach. Otherwise digital census is good initiative.
Special provisions for Himalayan states make sense. As someone from Uttarakhand, we know how difficult it is to conduct surveys in winter months. October timeline is practical thinking.
While caste data is important, hope this doesn't lead to more divisive politics. The focus should be on development, not just identity. Also, what about economic census? That's equally important.
Self-enumeration option is great! But hope they provide proper training to enumerators too. Last time in my village, many mistakes happened in recording data. Accuracy is most important in such a massive exercise.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.