Caste enumeration in second phase of Census exercise, says Census Commissioner

He said the questions for the first phase were notified on January 22 this year, while the schedule and questionnaire for the second phase will be published in due course.

The Census exercise will kick off April 1 with self-enumeration, allowing people to digitally submit information during the 15-day window preceding the first phase, Narayan said. This will be followed by the house-to-house houselisting operation by designated enumerators beginning April 16. The first phase is scheduled to be completed within a 30-day window between April and September 2026.

Narayan asked people to provide accurate information to census enumerators, asserting that individual data will remain confidential and cannot be used as evidence or to obtain any benefit under any scheme. “All individual data collected during the exercise remains confidential. It cannot be shared with any organisation, be it government or private, under the Right to Information Act, or used as evidence in a court,” the Census Commissioner said. He also made it clear that no documents shall be collected during the exercise.

Census 2027 will cover 36 states and Union Territories, 784 districts, 5,127 statutory towns, 4,580 census towns and 6,39,902 villages.

Replying to a query about the update of the National Population Register (NPR), Narayan said that no decision has been taken to update the NPR as of now.

Asked about the West Bengal government not publishing the Census notification yet, Narayan said, “We have taken up this issue with them. We hope that the state will publish the notification, which is a legal requirement. For the first phase, we have time till September 2026.”

Replying to a question about caste enumeration methodology, Narayan said several suggestions have come, which will be discussed and only after that questions related to caste enumeration will be finalised.

The official said first set of Census data is expected to be available in 2027.

In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs said, “States (and UTs) namely Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi (New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board), Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha and Sikkim will do the Houselisting and Housing Census during 16th April to 15th May, 2026, along with period of 15 self-enumeration from 1st April to 15th April, 2026. Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana will start Houselisting Census from 1st May to 30th May with period of self-enumeration from 16th April to 30th April, 2026.”

The Census is a Union subject and is listed at serial number 69 in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

On June 16 last year, the Centre issued a notification declaring its intent to conduct the Census 2027.

The notification, issued by the Office of Registrar General of India (RGI) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the reference date for the Census is set for March 1, 2027 for most of the country. However, for snow-bound and non-synchronous areas, including Ladakh and parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, the reference date is set for October 1, 2026.