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Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
First phase of the Census with Houselisting operations to begin from April 1, 2026
New Delhi, The houselisting operations for the forthcoming Census will begin from April 1, 2026, marking the start of the first phase of the decennial exercise, the Registrar General of India has said. First phase of the Census with Houselisting operations to begin from April 1, 2026 In a letter to chief secretaries of states and Union Territories, Census Commissioner and Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said the Houselisting Operations and Housing Census shall begin on April 1, 2026. Before that the appointment of supervisors, enumerators and work distribution among them shall be done with cooperation from states and district administration, it said. The Census is a two-phase exercise in phase one i.e. Houselisting Operation , the housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household will be collected. Subsequently, in the second phase i.e. Population Enumeration , the demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household will be collected which is scheduled for February 1, 2027, according to the letter. In the Census, Caste enumeration will also be done, a government statement had said. For Census activities, over 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors and around 1.3 lakh Census functionaries would be deployed. It is the 16th Census till now and the eighth after independence. The forthcoming Census will be conducted through digital means using mobile applications. Provision of self-enumeration would also be made available to the people. The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner had prepared around three dozen questions to be asked to the citizens. The survey will ask households about ownership of items like phones, internet, vehicles , and appliances among others. The citizens will also be asked about cereal consumption, sources of drinking water and lighting, type and access to latrines, wastewater disposal, bathing and kitchen facilities, fuel used for cooking and LPG/PNG connection. Additional questions include the materials used for the floor, walls and roof of the house, its condition, number of residents, number of rooms, presence of married couples, and whether the household head is a female or belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Tribe. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Indian Express
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Explained: How India conducts its Census—and what is new in 2027
The government has formally announced that the 16th Census of India will take place in two phases, with the reference dates set as March 1, 2027 for most of the country and October 1, 2026 for snow-bound and remote regions such as Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. This census marks a significant milestone: it will include the first nationwide caste enumeration since 1931. Notification under Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948, came out in the Gazette on June 16, 2025, with house-listing and housing enumeration running for several months before the population count begins in early 2027. The timing has already ignited political debate, especially over its implications for future delimitation of electoral constituencies and parliamentary seat distribution. Why the Census Matters The Census serves multiple critical functions. It is the basis on which electoral constituencies are drawn and seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Central grants to states and districts are often population-based, as are subsidies and ration allocations. Ministries ranging from Education to Rural Development use Census data to locate schools, primary health centers, and infrastructure projects. It helps the judiciary, planners, and scholars alike understand trends in migration, urbanisation, employment, and fertility. The Census is also crucial to the implementation of constitutional provisions. Article 82 of the Constitution mandates delimitation of constituencies based on the most recent Census. Article 330 and 332 reserve seats for SCs and STs in legislatures based on their population proportions. But beyond administration, the Census has also become a national mirror, reflecting changing patterns of identity, occupation, living conditions, and family structure. From capturing the impact of economic reforms to identifying vulnerable or underserved communities, it enables governments to deliver targeted welfare and better plan for the future. How the Census Is Conducted The process is carried out in two broad phases: the House-listing and Housing Census, followed by the Population Enumeration. These phases are separated by several months and preceded by freezing of administrative boundaries (districts) by the states, a preparatory mapping exercise and training of enumerators. A total of 30 lakh enumerators, primarily school teachers, are estimated to be deployed for the conduct of Census. There are, in addition, almost another 1,20,000 functionaries at the district and sub-district levels who manage, oversee or support the Census work and about 46,000 trainers required to conduct the training. House-listing Phase In this phase, every structure in the country is visited to record the characteristics of buildings and households. Enumerators collect data on the head of the household, the number of members, on the use of the building (residential, commercial, etc.), the materials used in its construction, the number of rooms, ownership status, sources of water and electricity, the type of toilet, fuel used for cooking, and the availability of assets like TV, phone, vehicle, etc. This information helps build a profile of housing stock, access to amenities, and living conditions across India. Generally, this phase is conducted between March 1 and September 30 of the year preceding the population enumeration year. Various states, depending upon their convenience, choose the months in which to conduct the house listing exercise. In this census, it is expected to be conducted in 2026. Population Enumeration This follows the housing census and focuses on individual data: name, age, sex, date of birth, relationship to the head of household, marital status, education, occupation, religion, caste/tribe, disability status, and migration history. Enumerators fill out a schedule for every person, even the homeless, and the process captures demographic and socio-economic details that form the heart of the Census database. The data is processed centrally and released in stages—first the provisional population totals, then more detailed tables disaggregated by various indicators. Robust quality control mechanisms, including re-checks and audits, are built into the process. Sources said, in this Census, the process of enumeration is expected to be completed within 20-21 days in the month of February, 2027. It is expected the provisional data will be out within 10 days of the completion of the enumeration exercise, and final data in another six months. How the 2027 Census is Proposed to Be Conducted The 2027 Census will be the first digital census in India's history, with the use of mobile apps, online self-enumeration, and near-real-time monitoring. It is also the first since 1931 that will collect caste data for all communities. In a significant shift from 2011, the 2027 Census plans to allow self-enumeration for the first time, where households can log into a government portal or use an app to fill out their own details. Once self-enumeration is done, the system will generate a unique ID. Individuals who have self-enumerated will have to just present this ID when Census enumerator comes to their house. Enumerators would also use handheld devices or smartphones preloaded with the Census app. While a dual system, including paper enumeration is envisaged, sources said it is expected all enumerators will use the digital medium since smartphones are now ubiquitous and remuneration for digital census is higher. This digitisation is expected to reduce errors, speed up processing, and enable tighter quality control. The RGI has already erected the digital infrastructure key to this shift. Enumerators have been trained to use mobile apps, geotagging tools, and cloud-based data upload systems. Real-time dashboards have been planned to track progress, flag inconsistencies, and push updates. The Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) would allow supervision and resolution of field issues without delay. How Will This Census be Different From the 2011 Census? Both in terms of methodology and content, Census 2027 will be different from 2011. Process and Technology Apart from the process being digital and allowing self-enumeration, Census 2027 will include: Also, responses for some of the questions being canvassed were descriptive in nature. Data processing of these descriptive responses required human intervention and at times took years for a few questions, delaying data dissemination. It also involved risk of data biasness and errors because of diverse judgement of enumerators. To fix this, the 2027 Census will use a digital system where enumerators would select options from pre-loaded lists—called code directories (with separate code for possible responses)—on a mobile app. These lists included standardized codes for things like Scheduled Castes and Tribes, different languages, jobs, and places of birth. This approach required enumerators to select entries from standardized drop-down menus or picklists. This makes sure that entries were uniform across the country and could be quickly processed by computers. It is a major step towards making the census more modern and reducing errors caused by manual entry. New Questions in the 2027 Census Questionnaire The RGI had prepared detailed questionnaire for both phases of the Census in 2018 itself. A test of the enumeration was conducted in 2019. Sources said the questionnaire for 2027 will almost remain the same with addition of caste enumeration. The house-listing operation will collect data under 34 columns, while population enumeration will have 28 columns, capturing extensive demographic, social, and economic data. House-listing Phase New questions included: Population Enumeration Phase Among the most significant changes: Challenges in the Field and How They're Addressed Digital literacy among enumerators is a major concern. To resolve this, extensive training modules, simulations, and region-specific language interfaces have been designed. The app has been designed with user-friendly prompts, drop-down menus, and offline sync. Quality control involves supervisors reviewing flagged forms, and periodic checks by Census officers. Errors like unrealistic age ranges or duplicate entries could be caught and corrected before submission.
Hindustan Times
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Govt finally announces long- postponed census
The Union government said on Wednesday that the long-delayed census will be carried out in two phases before March 1 2027, announcing a crucial exercise that will enumerate caste for the first time since independence and likely become the base for landmark processes such as delimitation and women's reservation. A statement from the Union home ministry said the reference date – a cut off date when population of a country is usually declared as of a specific day or date –for the 2027 census will be March 1. For the Union Territory of Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be October 1, 2026. 'It has been decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with enumeration of castes,' the statement said. The official headcount, and the houselisting process that precedes it, are expected to be completed by March 1, 2027 but it might take up to another three years for the numbers to be finalised and released, said an official aware of the matter. 'The process of census begins with the issuance of this notification,' said the official quoted above. In 2011, the last time the census was conducted, the entire process of houselisting and enumeration was completed before the reference date of March 1, 2011. The Census 2011 was conducted in two phases — Houselisting and Housing Census between 1st April 2010 to 30th September 2010 and Population Enumeration from 9th February to 28th February 2011. But this time, the census is expected to be conducted digitally and data collected through handheld devices, potentially trimming the time required for collating and sanitising data. The ministry further said that the notification for the intent of conducting the population census with these reference dates will be published in the official gazette, tentatively on June 16 as per section 3 of the Census Act 1948. The census forms an important node of policy making in India as it is the principal source of official socioeconomic and demographic data that forms the basis for government schemes, policies, and planning. But the 2027 census has assumed more importance because it is being held after a decade-and-a-half and will also officially confirm India's status as the world's most-populous nation. It will enumerate caste for the first time since the 1931 census, a politically explosive exercise that will have sweeping socioeconomic ramifications and possibly lead to an expansion of caste-based quotas in jobs and education, likely breaching the 50% mark mandated in a landmark 1992 Supreme Court judgment. The census might also be the basis for conducting the delimitation exercise for Lok Sabha seats, another controversial process that threatens to drive a wedge between northern and southern India, as well as potentially usher in the reservation of a third of all seats in national and state legislatures for women. After the notification for the census is issued on June 16, a key precondition will have to be first fulfilled – freezing of administrative boundaries, which is expected starting January 1, 2026. According to the officer cited above, once the notification is issued and the final date is decided, the first phase of the exercise is expected to begin as early as March or April 2026. The first phase involves house listing – wherein details of all buildings, permanent or temporary, are noted with their type, amenities, and assets. The National Population Register (NPR), a biometric database of all 'usual residents' in India, which is updated every five years, will be updated along with the census. This process is likely to be completed in six to eight months. The second phase - called population enumeration (PE), in which more detailed information on each individual residing in the country, Indian national or otherwise is to be noted along with their caste – is likely to be conducted around February 2027 and conclude before March 1, 2027. The home ministry statement said in 2011, the house listing process was done between April 1 and September 30, 2010, and the population enumeration was done between February 9 and 28, with the reference date of March 1, 2011. For the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the population enumeration was conducted during September 11 to 30, 2010 with the reference date as October 1, 2010. Census 2021 was also proposed to be conducted in two phases in a similar manner with phase I during April-September 2020 and second phase in February 2021. 'All the preparations for the first phase of the Census to be conducted in 2021 were completed and field work was scheduled to begin in some states/UTs from April 1, 2020. However, due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic across the country, the census work was postponed,' the ministry statement added. A second officer aware of the exercise said, 'This is an exercise to count the numbers and put it out. The data that will come up is unlikely to lead to any policy shifts…or for inclusion or exclusion of any castes in any category'. 'The entire process will be completed in three years. There will be no blocs of castes to choose from. People will have to spell out their castes to the enumerators. The census form will not identify any caste as OBCs,' he added. The Congress said there was no reason to delay the exercise for another 23 months. 'The Modi government is capable only of generating headlines, not meeting deadlines,' said Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh on X. In April, the high-powered cabinet committee on political affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that caste will be a part of the decennial census. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) credited the government's social justice agenda but the Opposition said its sustained pressure forced the administration to buckle on a sensitive issue that was a key node of the 2024 general election campaign. Bihar, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have conducted caste surveys in the last three years, while Karnataka is mulling the release of data of a survey conducted in 2015. All states were ruled by non-BJP dispensations when the surveys were done. The census is the 16th such exercise since the British rule era. In March this year, the Union home ministry had informed a parliamentary standing committee that the preparatory activities for the decadal exercise have been completed. The first synchronous census in India was held in 1881. Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every 10 years. It is the biggest source of information on demographic, socioeconomic and other parameters of the entire population of India. According to officials, a mobile app for collection of data and a census portal for management and monitoring of various census-related activities has already been developed. 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 will be asked questions such as the kind of cereal they consume in the household, the main source of drinking water, the main source of lighting, access to latrine, 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. 'It's a positive development that the Census is finally going to start. My only concern is that since it is a caste-based Census, it should be carefully implemented. Population census should set up an expert committee to look into all the aspects related to castes,' said Sukhadeo Thorat, former chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
