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Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Govt finally announces long- postponed census
The Union government said on Wednesday that the long-delayed census will be carried out in two phases before March 1 2027, announcing a crucial exercise that will enumerate caste for the first time since independence and likely become the base for landmark processes such as delimitation and women's reservation. A statement from the Union home ministry said the reference date – a cut off date when population of a country is usually declared as of a specific day or date –for the 2027 census will be March 1. For the Union Territory of Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be October 1, 2026. 'It has been decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with enumeration of castes,' the statement said. The official headcount, and the houselisting process that precedes it, are expected to be completed by March 1, 2027 but it might take up to another three years for the numbers to be finalised and released, said an official aware of the matter. 'The process of census begins with the issuance of this notification,' said the official quoted above. In 2011, the last time the census was conducted, the entire process of houselisting and enumeration was completed before the reference date of March 1, 2011. The Census 2011 was conducted in two phases — Houselisting and Housing Census between 1st April 2010 to 30th September 2010 and Population Enumeration from 9th February to 28th February 2011. But this time, the census is expected to be conducted digitally and data collected through handheld devices, potentially trimming the time required for collating and sanitising data. The ministry further said that the notification for the intent of conducting the population census with these reference dates will be published in the official gazette, tentatively on June 16 as per section 3 of the Census Act 1948. The census forms an important node of policy making in India as it is the principal source of official socioeconomic and demographic data that forms the basis for government schemes, policies, and planning. But the 2027 census has assumed more importance because it is being held after a decade-and-a-half and will also officially confirm India's status as the world's most-populous nation. It will enumerate caste for the first time since the 1931 census, a politically explosive exercise that will have sweeping socioeconomic ramifications and possibly lead to an expansion of caste-based quotas in jobs and education, likely breaching the 50% mark mandated in a landmark 1992 Supreme Court judgment. The census might also be the basis for conducting the delimitation exercise for Lok Sabha seats, another controversial process that threatens to drive a wedge between northern and southern India, as well as potentially usher in the reservation of a third of all seats in national and state legislatures for women. After the notification for the census is issued on June 16, a key precondition will have to be first fulfilled – freezing of administrative boundaries, which is expected starting January 1, 2026. According to the officer cited above, once the notification is issued and the final date is decided, the first phase of the exercise is expected to begin as early as March or April 2026. The first phase involves house listing – wherein details of all buildings, permanent or temporary, are noted with their type, amenities, and assets. The National Population Register (NPR), a biometric database of all 'usual residents' in India, which is updated every five years, will be updated along with the census. This process is likely to be completed in six to eight months. The second phase - called population enumeration (PE), in which more detailed information on each individual residing in the country, Indian national or otherwise is to be noted along with their caste – is likely to be conducted around February 2027 and conclude before March 1, 2027. The home ministry statement said in 2011, the house listing process was done between April 1 and September 30, 2010, and the population enumeration was done between February 9 and 28, with the reference date of March 1, 2011. For the snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the population enumeration was conducted during September 11 to 30, 2010 with the reference date as October 1, 2010. Census 2021 was also proposed to be conducted in two phases in a similar manner with phase I during April-September 2020 and second phase in February 2021. 'All the preparations for the first phase of the Census to be conducted in 2021 were completed and field work was scheduled to begin in some states/UTs from April 1, 2020. However, due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic across the country, the census work was postponed,' the ministry statement added. A second officer aware of the exercise said, 'This is an exercise to count the numbers and put it out. The data that will come up is unlikely to lead to any policy shifts…or for inclusion or exclusion of any castes in any category'. 'The entire process will be completed in three years. There will be no blocs of castes to choose from. People will have to spell out their castes to the enumerators. The census form will not identify any caste as OBCs,' he added. The Congress said there was no reason to delay the exercise for another 23 months. 'The Modi government is capable only of generating headlines, not meeting deadlines,' said Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh on X. In April, the high-powered cabinet committee on political affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that caste will be a part of the decennial census. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) credited the government's social justice agenda but the Opposition said its sustained pressure forced the administration to buckle on a sensitive issue that was a key node of the 2024 general election campaign. Bihar, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have conducted caste surveys in the last three years, while Karnataka is mulling the release of data of a survey conducted in 2015. All states were ruled by non-BJP dispensations when the surveys were done. The census is the 16th such exercise since the British rule era. In March this year, the Union home ministry had informed a parliamentary standing committee that the preparatory activities for the decadal exercise have been completed. The first synchronous census in India was held in 1881. Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every 10 years. It is the biggest source of information on demographic, socioeconomic and other parameters of the entire population of India. According to officials, a mobile app for collection of data and a census portal for management and monitoring of various census-related activities has already been developed. The office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner had prepared around three dozen questions to be asked to the citizens. The questions include whether a family has a telephone, internet connection, mobile or smartphone, bicycle, scooter or motorcycle or moped and whether they own a car, jeep or a van. The citizens will be asked questions such as the kind of cereal they consume in the household, the main source of drinking water, the main source of lighting, access to latrine, type of latrine, wastewater outlet, availability of bathing facility, availability of kitchen and LPG/PNG connection, main fuel used for cooking and availability of radio, transistor and television. 'It's a positive development that the Census is finally going to start. My only concern is that since it is a caste-based Census, it should be carefully implemented. Population census should set up an expert committee to look into all the aspects related to castes,' said Sukhadeo Thorat, former chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Census from April 2026: Caste enumeration to be part of exercise; early start in J&K, Uttarakhand
NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday announced that the next nationwide population census to start from April 1, 2026 and will, for the first time in over seven decades, include caste enumeration. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 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. Also read: 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. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 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.
