Overview
- A Home Ministry notification sets houselisting for any 30-day period chosen by each state or UT between April 1 and September 30, 2026, with a 15-day self-enumeration option immediately beforehand.
- Population Enumeration is slated for February 2027 with the reference date at 00:00 hours on March 1, 2027, while Ladakh and snow-bound areas of J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will enumerate in September 2026.
- The notification, issued under the Census Act, supersedes a 2020 order deferred due to COVID, and follows Cabinet approval of a ₹11,718 crore outlay for the exercise.
- India’s first fully digital census will use mobile apps, GPS tagging, built-in validation and the CMMS portal for real-time monitoring, deploying roughly 30 lakh field functionaries.
- States are mobilising personnel and training; Odisha plans an April–May houselisting with about 1 lakh enumerators and 15,000 supervisors, each covering around 200 houses with a ₹25,000 incentive.