Census 2027 Schedule Officially Released by Home Ministry
The Ministry of Home Affairs has formally announced the comprehensive timeline for the upcoming Census 2027, marking a significant step in India's demographic data collection efforts. On Thursday, the ministry notified the detailed schedule for both the houselisting and housing phases, which will replicate the exact 33 questions originally planned for the postponed Census 2021.
Detailed Housing Census Phase from April to September 2026
The initial phase of Census 2027, focused on housing data collection, is scheduled to be conducted between April 1 and September 30, 2026. This extensive six-month period will allow enumerators to gather crucial information about residential structures across the country.
The housing census will collect detailed information across multiple categories:
- Structural Details: Building number, predominant construction materials for floors, walls, and roofs, condition of census houses, and their primary usage.
- Household Information: Total number of residents, name and gender of household head, and social category classification (SC, ST, or other).
- Ownership and Accommodation: Property ownership status, number of dwelling rooms available to the household, and count of married couples residing together.
Comprehensive Amenities and Lifestyle Data Collection
Respondents will need to provide detailed information about household amenities through either digital submission via the official census application or during personal visits by enumerators. The data collection will cover:
- Basic Utilities: Primary sources of drinking water and lighting, access to and type of sanitation facilities, wastewater disposal systems, and bathing facilities.
- Household Resources: Availability of LPG or CNG connections and main cooking fuel used in the household.
- Communication and Transportation: Access to transistor radios, television sets, internet connectivity, mobile phones or smartphones, and primary modes of transportation.
- Consumption Patterns: Information about the main cereal consumed within the household.
The census authorities will collect mobile phone numbers from household heads or other members, but these will be used exclusively for census-related communications and data verification purposes.
Two-Phase Census Structure with Historical Caste Data Collection
The Census 2027 exercise will be conducted in two distinct phases following a carefully structured timeline:
- Phase 1 - Houselisting and Housing Census: April 1 to September 30, 2026
- Phase 2 - Population Enumeration: February 9 to February 28, 2027
The reference date for the population enumeration has been set at 00:00 hours on March 1, 2027. Special provisions have been made for challenging geographical regions, including Ladakh, snow-bound areas, and non-synchronous regions of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, where enumeration schedules may vary.
A landmark development in the upcoming census will be the inclusion of caste data collection during the population enumeration phase. This marks the first time since the 1931 census that comprehensive caste information will be systematically gathered at a national level, providing valuable sociological and demographic insights for policy planning and resource allocation.
The notification of the Census 2027 schedule represents a significant milestone in India's statistical planning, ensuring that the massive data collection exercise proceeds with proper structure and organization despite the delays caused by the global pandemic that affected the originally planned Census 2021.
