Overview
- The Registrar General of India formally notified the 40-question Household Schedule on Friday, Aug 14, 2026, adding an open-ended caste field alongside SC/ST status and new items on identity, bank accounts and Covid vaccination.
- An online self-enumeration window opens Aug 17–31 in early and snowbound areas and door-to-door enumeration will run Sept 1–30 in Ladakh and the snowbound parts of J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, with the rest of India scheduled for February–March 2027.
- The census will be run as a digital-first exercise using a dedicated mobile app and an online portal for self-reporting, with enumerators verifying entries during field visits.
- The caste question will record respondents’ self-declared answers in a blank column rather than a pre-set tick list, and the schedule includes voluntary fields for Aadhaar, mobile and voter ID numbers while authorities cite statutory backing under the Census Act, 1948 and promise confidentiality.
- The 2027 plan revives comprehensive caste enumeration not seen since 1931, follows a ₹11,718 crore budget and is expected to take two to three years after fieldwork to collate and publish aggregated results that could shape reservation and social policy.