Modi Cabinet Okays 11,718 Crore For Census 2027, Caste Data Included; India’s Largest Digital Enumeration To Carry Out In Two Phases

Prime Minister Modi on Friday chaired the Union Cabinet meeting, which approved the proposal to conduct the Census of India 2027 with a budget of 11,718 crore. The Census 2027 is going to be India’s first digital census and the largest administrative exercise in the world.

The two-phased census, first the Houselisting and Housing Census from April to September 2026, followed by the second phase of Population Enumeration, will conclude in February 2027.

In the Snow-bound areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand and the Union Territory of Ladakh, the Population Enumeration will be conducted earlier, in September 2026, due to weather constraints.

India’s First Digital Enumeration

Approximately 30 lakh On-ground personnel—including enumerators, supervisors, master trainers, and census officers—will take part in the exercise. First time the data will be collected through a mobile application available on Android and iOS platforms.

A dedicated portal for real-time fieldwork tracking, the Census Management & Monitoring System (CMMS), has been developed, while a new Houselisting Block (HLB) Creator web-mapping tool will assist charge officers in digitally defining enumeration areas.

Caste Enumeration To Be Included

Earlier, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, in its meeting on 30 April 2025, approved the inclusion of caste enumeration in the upcoming census. The data will be captured electronically during the Population Enumeration phase, marking a major expansion in the scope of demographic data collection.

Option For Self-Enumeration

For the first time, citizens will have the option to self-enumerate via a secure online platform. The government has assured that the digital exercise will incorporate robust security features to protect personal data.

Employment And Capacity Building

The Census 2027 exercise is expected to generate approximately 1.02 crore man-days of work, with about 18,600 technical personnel to be engaged for nearly 550 days across local administrative units. The initiative is also expected to enhance digital and data management skills among personnel, improving future employment prospects.

Faster And Better Data Delivery

The government aims to release census data faster than in previous cycles, supported by improved digital infrastructure. A new “Census-as-a-Service (CaaS)” platform will provide clean, machine-readable datasets to ministries and agencies, while advanced visualisation tools will make results more accessible to the public down to the village and ward levels.

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