New Delhi, Jun 4 (PTI) India's 16th Census with caste enumeration will be carried out in 2027 with the reference date of October 1, 2026 in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and of March 1, 2027 in the rest of the country.

It has been decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with the enumeration of castes, the Union Home Ministry announced on Wednesday.

The Census is being carried out after a gap of 16 years as the last one was held in 2011. Over 30 lakh enumerators and their supervisors are likely to be engaged to carry out the mega exercise.

"The reference date for Population Census - 2027 will be 00:00 hours of 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 00.00 hours of the first day of October 2026," the ministry said in a statement.

The last comprehensive caste-based count was done by the British between 1881 and 1931. The Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) conducted in 2011 under the UPA government did collect caste data, but it was never fully published or utilised.

Bihar and Telangana have conducted caste surveys in the last three years.

The home ministry said the notification for the intent of conducting the Population Census with the reference dates will be published in the official gazette "tentatively on 16.06.2025, as per provision of section 3 of Census Act 1948".

Officials said the second and final phase of the census will begin in February 2027 and conclude on March 1, 2027 (reference date).

It is immediately not clear whether the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR) will be carried out along with the Census or not. The government was planning to do it along with the Census in 2020 but the exercise was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Even though the reference dates for the Census are October 1, 2026 (for snow-bound areas) and March 1, 2027 (for rest of India), the house listing phase is likely to start by April 2026. Prior to that, the enumerators and supervisors will be given training for the smooth conduct of the exercise.

The Census of India is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990.

The last Census was conducted in 2011 in two phases: Phase I of House Listing (HLO) from April 1 to September 30, 2010) and Phase II of Population Enumeration (PE) (February 9 to 28, 2011).

Census 2021 was also proposed to be conducted in two phases with phase I during April-September 2020 and the second phase in February 2021.

All preparations for the first phase of the Census to be conducted in 2021 were completed and the fieldwork was scheduled to begin in some States/UTs from April 1, 2020. However, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic across the country, the census work was postponed.

The government recently decided that it will carry our caste enumeration along with the census. It will also be the first digital census giving the citizens an opportunity to self-enumerate.

The entire Census exercise is likely to cost the government over Rs 13,000 crore.

A meeting of the Union cabinet on December 24, 2019, approved the proposal for conducting the Census of India 2021 at a cost of Rs 8,754.23 crore and updating the NPR at a cost of Rs 3,941.35 crore.

However, the Budget 2025-26 allocated just Rs 574.80 crore for census surveys and statistics/the Registrar General of India (RGI).

A government functionary said the budget was a minor issue and could be sorted out without any impediment.

On April 30, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census.

The decision demonstrated that the Modi government is committed to the holistic interests and values of the nation and society, an official statement issued by the government on April 30 said.

According to Article 246 of the Constitution, the Census is a subject listed at 69 in the Union List in the Seventh Schedule.

While some states have conducted surveys to enumerate castes, these surveys have varied in transparency and intent, with some conducted purely from a "political angle, creating doubts in society", the government had said.

"Considering all these circumstances, and to ensure that our social fabric does not come under political pressure, it has been decided that caste enumeration should be included in the main census instead of being conducted as a separate survey," the statement said.

This will ensure that society becomes stronger economically and socially, and the country's progress continues without hindrance. It is noteworthy that when a provision of 10 per cent reservation was made for the economically weaker sections of society, it did not create tension in any section of society, it said.

Caste was excluded from all census operations conducted since independence.

In 2010, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured the Lok Sabha that the matter of caste census would be considered in the Cabinet.

A Group of Ministers was formed to deliberate on this subject, and most political parties recommended conducting a caste census. However, the previous Congress-led government opted for a survey instead of a caste census, known as the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC).

The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner had prepared around three dozen questions to be asked to the citizens.

The questions include whether a family has a telephone, internet connection, mobile or smartphone, bicycle, scooter or motorcycle or moped and whether they own a car, jeep or a van.

The citizens were asked questions such as the cereal they consume in the household, the main source of drinking water, the main source of lighting, access to latrines, type of latrine, wastewater outlet, availability of bathing facility, availability of kitchen and LPG/PNG connection, main fuel used for cooking and availability of radio, transistor and television.

They were asked about the predominant material of floor, wall and roof of the census house, the condition of the census house, the total number of persons normally residing in the household and whether the head of the household is a woman.

They were asked whether the head of the household belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, the number of dwelling rooms exclusively in possession of the household and the number of married couples living in the household among others.

The Census is the primary source of data collection from every section of the society and a decennial activity. Training is a very important aspect of conducting the Census successfully by ensuring seamless execution of Census 2027 in the field.

At the apex level, there will be at least 100 national trainers. The national trainers will be trained on both census and trainer development skills to further impart training to the next level, that is, master trainers.

About 1800 master trainers will impart training to the field trainers.

About 45,000 field trainers would be trained to provide training to the field functionaries, i.e., the enumerators and the supervisors.

The field trainers will further train about 30 lakh enumerators and their supervisors at the sub-district level. These enumerators and supervisors will do house-to-house enumeration at designated places. PTI ACB RT