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Explained: India's 2027 census to include caste count, trigger delimitation
After a nearly six-year delay, India's decennial census is finally back on the agenda. It would be conducted in two phases along with the enumeration of castes. India's population census is expected to be released on March 1, 2027. Here is everything known so far.
What is the census and why it matters
India's census is the largest population count in the world, conducted every 10 years by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It collects detailed data on age, sex, language, religion, education, occupation, housing, and more, forming the bedrock of policy planning, welfare targeting, infrastructure development, and electoral boundary drawing.
The upcoming 2027 census is expected to be 'digital-first' for quicker processing. This will also be the first time since 1931, that the census will include a nationwide caste enumeration.
Timeline and structure of census 2027
The exercise will unfold in two key phases:
House listing (March–September 2026): Data on housing and households.
Population Enumeration (February 2027): The actual headcount.
Reference date: March 1, 2027 (October 1, 2026 for snow-bound Himalayan regions, such as Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir).
Final data: Likely released around late 2027 to 2030, after cleaning and verification.
The government has committed 2.5-3 million enumerators to the task, with digital systems expected to reduce processing time.
Nationwide caste census returns
India will count castes across all communities, not just Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), marking a historic policy shift.
What's a caste census?
A caste census systematically records the caste identities of individuals, providing detailed socio-economic data across all caste groups. This data collection aims to inform and refine government policies, ensuring that welfare schemes and reservation benefits are effectively targeted to address disparities and promote social justice.
It also gathers socio-economic data (education, income, employment, etc), which can influence reservation policies and welfare schemes.
Why has the Centre agreed to conduct a caste census?
The renewed push for a caste census stems from mounting political pressure by the opposition INDIA bloc.
Recent state-level surveys in Bihar, Karnataka, and Telangana have also revealed a significant share of OBC and EBC populations, prompting calls to update outdated data. The current 27 per cent OBC quota still relies on figures from the 1931 census, highlighting the need for a more accurate and contemporary demographic assessment.
Delimitation to follow the census
The next delimitation exercise is expected after the 2027 census, the first since 2011. To do so, Parliament must enact a new Delimitation Act and may need to amend Article 81 to increase the total number of Lok Sabha seats, currently capped at 550. The Delimitation Commission will then redraw constituency boundaries based on updated population data.
The 42nd and 84th Amendments froze seat allocation across states until after the census conducted post-2026.
What is delimitation, and why is it contentious?
Delimitation is the process of redrawing the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies to reflect population changes. Mandated by Article 82 of the Constitution, it ensures equal representation by adjusting seats based on the latest census data. The last delimitation was based on the 2001 census, but the number of Lok Sabha seats (543) has remained unchanged since 1976.
Southern states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which have successfully controlled population growth, fear losing representation in Parliament. In contrast, northern states with higher population growth, such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, stand to gain more seats. This potential shift has caused southern state leaders to raise concerns about penalising states that have implemented effective population control measures.
However, the 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament (passed in 2023) is linked to delimitation, further complicating matters.
Why has the census been delayed?
Originally due in 2021, India's decennial census has faced repeated postponements, making it the longest delay in the country's census history.
The government initially cited the Covid-19 pandemic as the main reason for the delay. The house-listing phase was set to begin in 2020 but was paused as the pandemic hit. Subsequent delays occurred even after normalcy returned, with no formal explanation provided by the government.
Critics have questioned the prolonged pause, pointing to the risks of outdated data being used for welfare schemes, resource allocation, and policy decisions in the world's most populous country.
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Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
BJP to launch caste census campaign
Lucknow: The proposed caste enumeration exercise scheduled alongside the national Census in 2027 is set to become the centrepiece of an elaborate ground-level campaign which the BJP plans to undertake in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh. The initiative, sources said, will aim to bolster the party's support among the Other Backward Classes (OBC) ahead of the 2027 state assembly elections. Party leaders were directed to initiate dialogues with various OBC communities to inform them about the anticipated benefits of caste-based enumeration. These include the collection of data to enable targeted welfare programmes, identification of disparities in resource distribution and improved policymaking on affirmative action. Experts say the data will also provide deeper insight into the state's social structure and help promote inclusivity and equality. UP backward class welfare minister and state party chief of OBC Morcha, Narendra Kashyap, told TOI that the campaign, which will be carried out for at least a year, would reach out to all OBC sub-castes which have otherwise remained deprived of privileges, including reservation benefits. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Đăng ký Undo "The party will hold chaupals and workshops to reach out to the OBC communities," Kashyap said. The use of chaupals and workshops, analysts said, potentially suggests a bottom-up approach, with the BJP's bid to build narratives not just from above but by directly engaging with marginalised – but electorally significant – OBC communities at the grassroots level. The caste census has been a major demand of several opposition parties, essentially the Samajwadi Party and Congress. In fact, the SP's Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak (PDA) campaign — centred on caste census and social justice — is widely said to have dented the BJP while reducing its tally in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Experts said that by initiating its own campaign, the BJP aims to reposition itself on the issue to avoid ceding any political ground in the run-up to the panchayat elections due next year and subsequently the 2027 UP polls. The party also aims to reconnect with OBC communities, many of which have traditionally aligned with regional players like the SP and the Mayawati-led BSP. Experts suggest that the BJP will seek to steer the caste census narrative toward development and national integration. This includes showcasing its existing welfare schemes for backward castes and linking the census with its broader governance agenda. BJP, as a matter of fact, has also been wheeling out a sharp OBC narrative by invoking historical figures from the backward class communities – most recently, Maharaja Suhaildev and Ahilyabai Holkar. Meanwhile, the opposition is also pulling up socks to make deeper inroads among the OBC communities. After making an effective presence as an ally of the Samajwadi Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party plans to go the extra mile in wooing the OBC. Congress plans to hold 'Bhagidari Nyay Sammelan' in every district from June 14 to July 15.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
A renewed OBC outreach in Uttar Pradesh
In Uttar Pradesh, political parties are focused on mobilising the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), which are estimated to comprise more than 40% of the State's population and consist of about 48 caste segments. This move comes against the backdrop of the Centre's announcement that caste enumeration will be part of the Census in 2027. On June 14, the Congress began a month-long outreach campaign called Bhagidari Nyay Sammelan, with the aim of reaching out to the OBCs. The party has started holding conferences across the State to raise awareness about the declining employment opportunities for OBCs. It is also organising village-level 'chaupal' campaigns to sensitise people on the importance of a caste census and an economic survey. It plans to hold district-level marches on the need to increase the reservation cap beyond 50%. Congress leaders have said that they will raise caste-centric issues of various OBC segments, such as the Kurmis, Noniyas, Binds, Mauryas, Kushwahas, Rajbhars, Pals, Nishads, Nais, Mallahs, and Prajapatis. The party is confident of its OBC-centric approach in U.P. since Rahul Gandhi's recurrent pitch for a caste census during the party's campaign to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was moderately successful. Similarly, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has started organising OBC cadre camps in various Assembly constituencies across the State in a bid to attract the OBCs, especially groups that are extremely backward and which used to vote for the party along with Dalits in the 1990s and 2000s. The party is keen to remind OBC voters about the welfare measures launched for the segment by previous BSP governments under Mayawati. The reports of these cadre camps will be analysed at the party's State headquarters. The focus on OBCs by the BSP, considered to be a Dalit-centric party, is evident from the party's choices for leadership: State president Vishwanath Pal, for instance, belongs to the Gadariya (OBC) community. In 1995 and 1997, Bhagwat Pal and Dayaram Pal, two OBC leaders, were at the helm of the party in the State and played a significant role in helping the BSP make inroads within OBC groups and dent the Mandal formula of the Samajwadi Party (SP). The BSP today is a shell of its past. The party won just one seat in the 2022 Assembly polls and secured a vote share of just 12.8%. Given its downfall, it is keen to occupy the Opposition space through its OBC outreach and prevent the SP from making the State a bi-polar political battlefield. The main rivals on the U.P. political chessboard — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the SP — are also making attempts to garner the support of these social segments. SP president Akhilesh Yadav recently held meetings in Lucknow with social and political organisations of the Noniya and Rajbhar OBC groups. He promised them a slew of progressive measures if elected to power in the 2027 Assembly polls. Mr. Yadav also promised to build a statue of Maharaja Suheldev, considered an icon by the Rajbhar community, along the Gomti river in Lucknow. The SP has constantly emphasised that it is the party's PDA (Pichhda, Dalits and Alpsankhyak — meaning, backward castes, Dalits, and minority communities, respectively) plank and demand for a caste census that has pushed the BJP government to include caste enumeration in the 2027 Census. The BJP, which has been saying that its decision to include caste enumeration at the national level shows the party's push for social justice and upliftment of the OBCs, has been giving a lion's share of its organisational posts to OBC leaders. In its district president list, announced recently, the BJP had 25 OBC presidents. Of them, five are Kurmis, two are Lodhs, two are Mauryas, and one each is from the Yadav, Kushwaha, Rajbhar, Pal, Saini, Kashyap and Vaishya communities. The Kurmis are numerically significant among the OBCs; they constitute roughly 4% of the State's population. Last week, former minister and a prominent OBC face, Swami Prasad Maurya, launched a political front called Lok Morcha. This comprises nine small parties, led mostly by OBC leaders. The parties have coined the slogan, 'Jiski jitni sankha bhari, uski utni hissedari' (representation according to population), which is an old cry of OBC-centred parties. Evidently, no party is leaving any stone unturned to woo the OBCs.
India.com
2 hours ago
- India.com
Home Minister Amit Shah Reviews Preparation For 2027 Census
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday reviewed the preparation for the forthcoming Census with the Union Home Secretary, RG&CCI and other senior officials in New Delhi. As per a Ministry of Home Affairs statement, the notification to conduct the Census will be published in the official gazette on June 16, 2025. "Reviewed the preparations for the 16th Census with senior officials. Tomorrow, the gazette notification of the census will be issued. The census will include caste enumeration for the first time. As many as 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors and around 1.3 lakh census functionaries will conduct the operation with cutting-edge mobile digital gadgets," Shah said on X.
