New Delhi: The Union government on Wednesday announced that the census exercise will be held in two phases beginning October 1, 2026. The first phase will be held in hilly and snow-hit areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Ladakh and other areas. The second phase covering other parts of the country will be held from March 1, 2027. It is expected to be held in a time span of three years, government sources said.

More than a month after the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) approved caste enumeration in the forthcoming population census, the Centre said census exercise with caste enumeration will finally begin from March 1, 2027. The exercise will take place in two phases in states/UTs including Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

“It has been decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with enumeration of castes. 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,” a press statement said.

“The notification for the intent of conducting the Population Census with the above reference dates will be published in the official gazette tentatively on June 16, 2025, as per provision of section 3 of Census Act 1948,” it said.

“The Census of India is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990. The last Census of India was conducted in 2011 in two phases, namely; Phase I – House Listing (HLO) (April 1 to 30 September 30, 2010) and Phase II – Population Enumeration (PE) (February 9 to February 28, 2011) with reference date – 00:00 hours of the first day of March 2011, except for snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh for which it was conducted during 11 to 30 September 2010 with reference

date as 00.00 hours of the first day of October 2010,” it said.

During the announcement of the caste enumeration earlier on April 20, this year, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs has decided … that caste enumeration should be included in the forthcoming

Census. This demonstrates that a government is committed to the values and interests of a society and country.”

The Centre’s decision came while the Opposition – particularly Congress leader Rahul Gandhi – had upped its ante against the NDA-led government over the issue.

Since the announcement of the Census exercise and its deferment owing to the Covid pandemic in 2020, the deadline for freezing jurisdictional boundaries has been extended multiple times.