After a gap of 16 years, population, caste census will be held in 2027

New Delhi: The Central government on Wednesday announced to conduct a population and caste census in 2027, first since 2011. "It has been decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with enumeration of castes," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

In the first phase, the Union Territories of Ladakh and the non-synchronous snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir and states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, will held on October 1, 2026," the ministry said.

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

It is not immediately clear whether the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR) will be carried out alongside the Census.

The entire Census exercise will likely cost the government over ₹13,000 crore.

The government recently decided to include our caste enumeration in the census. It will also be the first digital census, giving citizens an opportunity to self-enumerate.

Caste data was last collected as part of the official census exercise in 1931, during British colonial rule that ended with Indian independence 16 years later.

Successive governments have since resisted updating the sensitive demographic data, citing administrative complexity and fears of social unrest.

A caste survey was conducted in 2011 but its results were never made public because they were purportedly inaccurate.