NEW DELHI: Ahead of the 2027 Census, a detailed plan has been discussed to ensure the successful execution of the massive exercise. The first phase, the Houselisting and Housing Census, will begin in April 2026 and run through September 2026. This phase involves deploying lakhs of field functionaries across the country, utilizing mobile apps for data collection and ensuring robust security features for the digital operation.
The Census will be conducted in two phases: the first, Houselisting and Housing Census, and the second, Population Enumeration (PE), which will occur in February 2027, with some areas, like Ladakh and remote regions of Jammu and Kashmir, being covered earlier in September 2026. The discussions for the first phase have included feedback from a recent pre-test exercise, which was reviewed by officials from all states and Union Territories.
On December 12, 2025, the Union Cabinet approved a budget of Rs 11,718.24 crore for the Census, with caste enumeration also included. This will be India’s 16th Census, and it will be the largest administrative exercise in the world, involving approximately 30 lakh field workers and 18,600 technical personnel over 550 days. The effort will generate around 1.02 crore man-days of employment. (ANI)
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