'Houselisting', first phase of Census 2027 to take place between April-September: Ministry of Home Affairs

New Delhi: After a delay of six years, the Census 2027 will kickstart on April 1 this year with the houselisting operations spread over six months.

The first phase -- houselisting operations -- will take place between April 1 and September 30 this year over a period of 30 days specified by each state and union territory.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) published the notification, which also said there will be an option for self-enumeration to be conducted in 15 days' time period just before the start of houselisting operations of 30 days.

The Census was scheduled to take place in 2021 but was postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic. The Census is conducted in two phases -- houselisting and housing census from April to September 2026 and Population Enumeration in February 2027.

The pre-test of the first phase of Census of India 2027 was conducted from November 10 to 30 last yeaer in all states and union territories

In the first phase of Census operations, which is the House-listing Operation (HLO), details related to the housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household will be collected while in the second phase, when population is counted, demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household will be collected.

The population count will be carried out with a reference date of October 1, 2026 in Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The reference date for the said census shall be 00.00 hours of the 1st day of March, 2027, except 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.

The last time India conducted a Census was in 2011 but caste was not counted as part of the exercise, which is carried out under Census Act, 1948 and Census Rules, 1990. The exercise, which will be the first-ever digital census in the country giving the citizens an opportunity to self-enumerate, will cost the government at least Rs 13,000 crore.

In Parliament last month the MHA said the Registrar General and Census Commissioner is in the process of finalising the questionnaire for Census 2027 based on inputs and suggestions from various stakeholders, including ministries and Census data users.

It also said the Census 2027 will collect migration related data, including duration of stay at the current residence and the reason for migration.