Census 2027 1st phase starts today: What you need to do
India has started Census or headcount of the country’s over a billion population from today i.e. April 01, 2026
Census 2027: India has started Census or headcount of the country’s over a billion population from today i.e. April 01, 2026.
The exercise will be done in two phases with the first phase beginning from 1st April 2026, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan said whille addressing a press conference.
Census of India is conducted under provisions of Census Act, 1948, Census Rules, 1990 as amended from time to time. The last Census of India was conducted in 2011. Census 2027 will be 16th in series and 8th since independence.
With more than 1.4 billion people, India overtook China in 2023, according to the United Nations Population Fund. India's latest census will also include caste data and is seen as crucial for policy, welfare delivery and political representation in the world's most populous country.
What's new in Census 2027?
- For the first time, the Census will be conducted digitally, and for the first time, the option of Self-Enumeration will also be available, the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner said.
- Self-enumeration from 1st to 15th April and House Listing and Housing Census from 16th April to 15th May 2026 to be conducted in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, NDMC and Delhi Cantonment Board, Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Sikkim, it added.
- Self-Enumeration is a secure web-based facility through which respondents can enter their information online in 16 languages before the door-to-door survey
- Enumerators will collect and submit data directly through Mobile App, using their smart phone
- All necessary provisions have been made to ensure data security
- More than 3 million enumerators, supervisors, and other officials will be involved in Census 2027 across the country
Census to be done in two phases
The intent of the Government to conduct Population Census 2027 has been notified in Gazette of India on 16th June, 2025. The reference date of Census 2027 is 00:00 hours of 1st March, 2027, (for UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of UT of Jammu and Kashmir and States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh reference date is 00:00 hours of 1st October, 2026).
The Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases.
Phase I: House Listing and Housing Census popularly known as HLO during six months from April to September, 2026 in a period of 30 days as per the convenience of the State/UT Governments along with option of Self-enumeration of 15 days period just before the 30 days period of house-to-house houselisting work.
In this phase information about condition of houses, amenities available to the household and assets possessed by the household will be collected. Questions of the Phase I of the Census have been notified in January, 2026.
Phase II: Population Enumeration (PE) will be conducted during February 2027 (UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of UT of Jammu and Kashmir and States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh Phase II will be conducted during September 2026). As decided by CCPA, enumeration of Castes will also be done during second phase of Census.
In phase II, information on demographic, socio-economic, education, migration, fertility etc. will be collected from each individual. Exact dates of the Population Enumeration and question to be covered in this Phase will be notified in due course.
States namely Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi (New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board), Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Sikkim will do the Houselisting and Housing Census during 16th April to 15th May, 2026, along with period of 15 Self enumeration from 1st April to 15th April, 2026.
On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana will start Houselisting Census from 1st May to 30th May with period of self-Enumeration from 16th April to 30th April, 2026.
33 Questions in Census 2027
During the first phase of the Census, citizens will be asked some 33 questions. Key focus areas of the 33 questions are:
- Building Details: Building number, house number, wall/floor/roof materials, house condition.
- Household Info: Head of household (sex), number of residents, number of married couples.
- Amenities: Drinking water source, lighting, toilet access, waste outlets, kitchen, and LPG/PNG access.
- Assets & Digital Access: Radio, TV, laptop/computer, telephone/mobile, vehicles (bicycle, scooter, car), and internet access.
- Other Data: Main cereal consumed, ownership status.
The Union Government has approved an outlay of ₹11,718.24 crore for Census 2027, making adequate provisions for payment of honorarium and training to Census functionaries, IT infrastructures, logistics, etc.
All the administrative units have been frozen for the period 01.01.2026 to 31.03.2027. Census 2027 will be conducted in 36 States/UTs, 7,092 sub-districts, 5,128 Statutory towns, 4,580 Census towns and around 6,39,902 villages, as on 01.01.2026.
The census portal for self-enumeration is "censusindia.gov.in" or "census.gov.in".
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