The Government of India has decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with enumeration of castes, said the Ministry of Home Affairs. The reference date for Population Census – 2027 will be the first day of March, 2027. For the Union Territory of Ladakh and the non-synchronous snow-bound areas of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be the first day of October, 2026, it said.
The census will begin on October 1, 2026, in the states and Union territories that receive snowfall. These include Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
#BREAKING: 1 मार्च 2027 से जातीय जनगणना, 4 राज्यों में शुरू होगी जनगणना- सूत्र#Bihar #CasteCensus | @anuraagmuskaan pic.twitter.com/pcMDVd6ZPb
— Zee News (@ZeeNews) June 4, 2025
In a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs, it was clarified that a decision has been made to conduct the Population Census-2027 in two phases, along with the enumeration of castes.
The statement further confirmed, “The reference date for Population Census – 2027 will be 00:00 hours of the first day of March, 2027.”
Clarifying the date for the snow-bound UT and states, the statement read, “For the Union Territory of Ladakh and the non-synchronous snow-bound areas of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be 00.00 hours of the first day of October, 2026.”
Census of 2021
The Home Ministry statement also stated that Census 2021 was proposed to be conducted in two phases in a similar manner, with phase I from April to September 2020 and the second phase in February 2021. All the preparations for the first phase of the Census to be conducted in 2021 were completed, and field work was scheduled to begin in some States and UTs from April 1, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the census work was postponed.
Govt’s Decision On Census
The government announced on April 30 that caste enumeration will be included in the upcoming census. In a media briefing, Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed about the decisions taken by the Union Cabinet and stated that some states have done caste surveys, and conducting a census is in the domain of the central government.
He added that the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) had decided that caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming census.
Vaishnaw had alleged that Congress governments have ‘opposed the caste census.’
ANI quoted Vaishnaw as saying, “Congress governments have always opposed the caste census. In 2010, the late Dr Manmohan Singh said that the matter of caste census should be considered in the Cabinet. A group of ministers was formed to consider this subject. Most of the political parties have recommended a caste census. Despite this, the Congress government decided to conduct a survey of caste or a caste census.”
“It is well understood that Congress and its INDI alliance partners have used the caste census only as a political tool. Some states have conducted surveys to enumerate castes. While some states have done this well, some others conducted such surveys only from a political angle in a non-transparent way. Such surveys created doubts in society. To ensure that our social fabric is not disturbed by politics, caste enumeration should be included in the census instead of surveys,” he added.
Meanwhile, Congress had been demanding a caste census, with leaders of the grand old party making the same demand in their speeches.
(with ANI inputs)