The Union Home Ministry has set the Census process rolling after a gap of 15 years with a gazette notification.
Published Jun 16, 2025 | 2:15 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 16, 2025 | 2:15 PM
The Home Ministry issued the Census notification on 16 June.
Synopsis: The upcoming two-phase enumeration will be India’s 16th national Census since the first in 1872, and the eighth after Independence.
The Union government on Monday, 16 June, notified that a Census of the Indian population will be held in 2027.
Announcing the decision through a gazette notification issued under Section 3 of the Census Act, the Ministry of Home Affairs said the reference date for the Census “shall be 00.00 hours of the 1st day of March, 2027, except for the Union Territory of Ladakh, and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The notification was issued on 16 June.
The notification further set the reference date the Union Territory of Ladakh, and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand at “00.00 hours on the 1st day of October, 2026”.
The previous Census was carried out in 2011, and the 2021 Census was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the 2011 Census report, the Indian population had increased to 1.21 billion with a decadal growth of 17.70 percent. The overall sex ratio was 943 females for every 1,000 males, and the third gender constituted 4,90,000 of the total population.
The upcoming two-phase enumeration will be India’s 16th national Census since the first in 1872, and the eighth after Independence. The first major phase will collect data on housing condition, household assets, and amenities. The second phase will conduct the population enumeration.
