New Delhi: Today, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification regarding the nationwide Census. The exercise will be conducted in two phases. According to the issued notification, the first phase of the Census will begin from October 1, 2026, covering four hilly states and Union Territories — Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh. Due to the snowfall in these areas, an advance census will be carried out.
The second phase will be conducted in all other states and Union Territories starting from March 1, 2027.
The Census will include two components:
1. House Listing Operation (HLO): This will assess the condition of houses, property details, and availability of basic facilities for each household.
2. Population Enumeration (PE): This phase will gather individual-level information from every family.
The Central Government has officially notified this two-phase national enumeration.
First-Ever Caste-Based Census
For the first time post-independence, a caste-based census will be conducted alongside the regular enumeration. It will collect detailed data on population, socio-economic status, cultural background, and more.
To facilitate this massive exercise, 34 lakh (3.4 million) enumerators and supervisors and 1.3 lakh (130,000) census officers will be appointed. The entire process will be digitized and conducted through a mobile app. Adequate arrangements will be made to ensure confidentiality and security of people’s personal information during the census.
Earlier, on April 30, the Central Government had announced that a caste-based census would be conducted. Hence, this will be the first such census in India since independence. Opposition parties, including the Congress, had long demanded a caste-based census.
The last national census was held in 2011. As per tradition, the census is conducted every 10 years. However, the 2021 Census was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Historical Background
The first census in India was conducted by the British in 1881 and was continued uninterrupted till 1931, including caste enumeration.
The last caste-based census was conducted in 1941, but its report was never made public.
Post-independence, India’s first Cabinet — which included Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, B.R. Ambedkar, and Maulana Azad — decided against continuing caste-based census, fearing it could divide the society.
The first post-independence census was held in 1951, which excluded all castes except Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), as their enumeration was required to provide constitutional safeguards and reservation benefits.
Thus, the upcoming census marks a historic shift in India’s data-gathering policy, as it reintroduces caste-based data collection after over eight decades.
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