NEW DELHI | Population enumeration to run from January 25 to February 28; self-enumeration begins January 10, while poll-bound and snow-bound regions remain excluded

NEW DELHI: The Centre has announced the schedule for the population enumeration phase of Census 2027, with the exercise set to take place across most parts of the country from January 25 to February 28, 2027. Manipur, however, will remain excluded until further orders, according to a notification issued by the Registrar General of India (RGI) and Census Commissioner on October 30.

The notification, issued by Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, states that the reference date for the census will be midnight on March 1, 2027. The exercise will also be deferred in poll-bound Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Ladakh. Specified snow-bound areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have been excluded from the schedule as well.

A revisional round will be conducted from March 1 to March 5, 2027, the notification said. Self-enumeration window from January 10. The government has introduced an option for self-enumeration ahead of the house-to-house population count. People will be able to submit their details through the self-enumeration process from January 10 to January 24, 2027.

The house-to-house enumeration will begin on January 25 and continue until February 28, covering the areas included in the latest schedule. The exclusion of Manipur follows the Centre’s earlier decision to defer house-listing operations in the state. The latest notification has kept Manipur outside the current enumeration schedule until a further announcement.

Assembly elections are scheduled to be held early next year in Manipur, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand.

Census to be conducted in two phases

Census 2027, the eighth census since Independence, will be conducted in two phases – house listing and housing census, followed by population enumeration. The decennial exercise was originally scheduled for 2021 but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Union Cabinet has approved Rs 11,718 crore for the nationwide exercise, which is expected to be the country’s biggest-ever population count. India’s last census was conducted in 2011, when the country’s population was recorded at 1.21 billion, comprising 62.32 crore males and 58.75 crore females. The country had 24.95 crore households at the time.

The upcoming census is expected to provide updated demographic data after a gap of more than 15 years.