Overview
- The gazette lists 33 items for Phase I covering housing characteristics, amenities and assets, with new questions on internet access, a contact mobile number and the main cereal consumed.
- Houselisting will run between April 1 and September 30, 2026, with each state and UT choosing a 30-day period and a 15-day self-enumeration option preceding field visits.
- The exercise will be India’s first fully digital census, deploying about 3 million field functionaries using Android and iOS applications for data collection.
- Population enumeration is scheduled for February 2027 with a March 1, 2027 reference instant, and will include caste data; the Phase II questionnaire is yet to be notified.
- Following the notification, central officials met state Chief Secretaries to lock manpower, scheduling and platform readiness for the Rs 11,718-crore operation.