Overview
- House listing and housing operations will run in state-chosen 30‑day windows between April and September 2026, with population enumeration in February 2027 and an early September 2026 count for Ladakh and other snow‑bound regions.
- The first fully digital census will use Android and iOS apps, a Census Management & Monitoring System portal and a Houselisting Block Creator web‑map tool, with an option for self‑enumeration.
- Caste data will be recorded electronically during the population enumeration phase under a Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs decision.
- About 30 lakh field functionaries will be deployed, supported by roughly 18,600 technical personnel, generating an estimated 1.02 crore man‑days of employment.
- Data release is slated to be faster through a Census‑as‑a‑Service model that provides clean, machine‑readable outputs, with officials emphasizing DPDP‑aligned security safeguards.