Census from April 2026: Caste enumeration to be part of exercise; early start in J&K, Uttarakhand
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The Census will be conducted in two phases under the Census Act, 1948, and the Census Rules, 1990. Reference date will be March 1, 2027.
In snow-bound and non-synchronous regions including Ladakh, parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, the census will begin earlier, from October 2026. The reference date for these areas will be 00:00 hours on October 1, 2026, while for the rest of the country it will be 00:00 hours on March 1, 2027.
A formal notification outlining these reference dates is expected to be published in the official gazette on June 16, 2025.
Reference date is the date to which population count relates.
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The decision to include caste data was confirmed earlier by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw following a Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs meeting held on April 30. Vaishnaw said the move was aimed at ensuring transparency and consistency, and to address concerns over varying approaches adopted by states.
'Some states have conducted caste surveys transparently, but others have not. These inconsistencies have created doubts and could disturb social harmony,' he said.
The announcement comes as India prepares to undertake its first population census since 2011. The last census was conducted in two phases—House Listing and Housing Census from April to September 2010, and Population Enumeration in February 2011. Census 2021 had also been planned in a similar manner, but was indefinitely postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
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Preparations for the 2021 census had been completed and fieldwork was set to begin on April 1, 2020, when the pandemic hit.
The inclusion of caste data in the upcoming census is considered a landmark development, especially since the last comprehensive caste-based count was done by the British between 1881 and 1931. The Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) conducted in 2011 under the UPA government did collect caste data, but it was never fully published or utilised. Poonam Muttreja, executive director of the Population Foundation of India, had earlier said that a caste census is essential to uncover deep-seated structural inequalities and to formulate inclusive policies.
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