MHA Issues Formal Notification For Census 2027, First Phase To Kickstart On 1 April This Year

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a formal notification on Wednesday outlining the deadline for the Census 2027. The two-phased census’s first phase to kickstart from 1 April. Houselisting and house census will be conducted in the first phase, which shall be completed within 30-day period in each state and union territory, as the notification said, to end on 30 September.

Citizen can also self-submit their details through the portal or app, which will be available before the 15 days of houselisting, the notifications said.

The population enumeration in the second phase will begin from February 2027 and end on midnight (00:00) on 1 March 2027, except for the snow-bound areas, where it will be completed in September 2026. The census will also include cast detail-first time since independence- approved by the centre in Apr 2025.

The census- a decennial exercise in India- is delayed since 2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This will be the first census to be conducted fully digitally since independence. The data will be collected through a mobile app (Android and iOS) and will be monitored by the Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) portal.

30 Lakh On-Ground Personnel To Participate

This is going to be the world’s largest administrative exercise. Almost 30 lakh on-ground personnel, primarily government teachers, will be participating in the exercise. Last year in December, the central government approved a total of 11,718 cr budget for the exercise.

Centre emphasised that the data dissemination will be user-friendly, and through the Census-as-a-Service (CaaS), machine-readable data will be available to the ministries, as the latest data is crucial for significant policymaking and development schemes.

Also Read: PM Modi Calls On Startups To Harness AI For Societal Good, Reiterates Government’s Support