Overview

• The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a gazette notification on June 16 for India’s 16th census to include caste enumeration for the first time since Independence.
• The exercise will run in two phases—house listing operations and population enumeration—with reference dates of October 1, 2026, in snow-bound regions and March 1, 2027, for the rest of the country.
• About 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors plus 1.3 lakh census functionaries will conduct digital enumeration using mobile applications with self-enumeration and stringent data security measures.
• The government estimates the census will cost over Rs 13,000 crore and rely exclusively on electronic devices and an online portal for voluntary data submission.
• Political reactions split between praise from Janata Dal (United) for its social justice impact and calls from Congress for a detailed roadmap on execution, timelines, and funding transparency.