World’s largest census to be conducted in two phases, the first phase to begin from 1st April 2026

For the first time, the Census will be conducted digitally, and for the first time, the option of Self-Enumeration will also be available

Self-enumeration from 1st to 15th April and House Listing and Housing Census from 16th April to 15th May 2026 to be conducted in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, NDMC and Delhi Cantonment Board, Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Sikkim

Self-Enumeration is a secure web-based facility through which respondents can enter their information online in 16 languages before the door-to-door survey

Enumerators will collect and submit data directly through the Mobile App, using their smartphones

All necessary provisions have been made to ensure data security

More than 3 million enumerators, supervisors, and other officials will be involved in Census 2027 across the country

NEW DELHI, MARCH 30, 2026:  Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, addressed a Press Conference on Census-2027, in New Delhi on Monday. The World’s largest census to be conducted in two phases, first phase to begin from 1^st April 2026. For the first time, the Census will be conducted digitally, and for the first time, the option of Self-Enumeration will also be available. Self-enumeration from 1st to 15th April and House Listing and Housing Census from 16th April to 15th May 2026 to be conducted in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, NDMC and Delhi Cantonment Board, Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Sikkim.

Census of India is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948, Census Rules, 1990 as amended from time to time. The last Census of India was conducted in 2011. Census 2027 will be the 16^th in series and the 8^th since independence.

The intent of the Government to conduct the Population Census 2027 has been notified in Gazette of India on 16th June, 2025. The reference date of Census 2027 is 00:00 hours of 1st March, 2027, (for UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of UT of Jammu and Kashmir and States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh reference date is 00:00 hours of 1st October, 2026).

The Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, namely Phase I–House Listing and Housing Census popularly known as HLO, during six months from April to September 2026 in a period of 30 days as per the convenience of the State/UT Governments along with option of Self-enumeration of 15 days period just before the 30 days period of house-to-house houselisting work. In this phase, information about the condition of houses, amenities available to the household and assets possessed by the household will be collected. Questions of Phase I of the Census have been notified in January 2026.

Phase II–Population Enumeration (PE) will be conducted during February 2027 (UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of UT of Jammu and Kashmir and States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh Phase II will be conducted during September 2026). As decided by CCPA, enumeration of Castes will also be done during second phase of Census. In phase II, information on demographic, socio-economic, education, migration, fertility etc. will be collected from each individual. Exact dates of the Population Enumeration and question to be covered in this Phase will be notified in due course.

States, namely Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi (New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board), Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Sikkim will do the Houselisting and Housing Census during 16^th April to 15^th May, 2026, along with period of 15 Self enumeration from 1^st April to 15^th April, 2026. Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana will start Houselisting Census from 1^st May to 30^th May with a period of self-Enumeration from 16^th April to 30^th April, 2026. Detail state/UT wise period of first phase, along with Self-Enumeration is attached at Annex.

The Union Government has approved an outlay of ₹11,718.24 crore for Census 2027, making adequate provisions for payment of honorarium and training to Census functionaries, IT infrastructures, logistics, etc.

The Census 2027 will be conducted through digital means. Enumerators will collect and submit data directly through Mobile App, using her/his smart phone. In addition to this, there will be an online provision for self-enumeration in both the phases. Mobile app as well as Self-Enumeration portal will be available in 16 languages including Hindi and English. A portal has been developed for management and monitoring of various Census related field activities like generation of appointment letter and ID card of Enumerators and Supervisors and allocation of work to them, management of training to census functionaries, HLB creation, monitoring of the progress of work through dashboard near real time basis, auto-generation of some Census Records/ Abstracts, etc. Houselisting Blocks (HLBs) will be carved out using a web mapping application. Necessary measures for data security have been taken.

For self-enumeration, respondents can log into the SE portal using their mobile number and other basic details, and complete the Census schedule at their convenience. Upon successful submission, a unique Self-Enumeration ID (SE ID) will be generated which is to be shared with the enumerator during the field visit. Self-Enumeration option provides flexibility to fill the information at one’s own convenience before the enumerator’s visit. While enumerators will continue to make house to house enumeration in their allocated blocks as in the previous Censuses, Self-enumeration is an additional facility given this time to respondents.

(Access SE Portal (se.census.gov.in) → Login using Mobile Number → Identify location on map→ Fill Household Details → Submit Information → Receive SE ID → Provide SE ID to Enumerator → Data confirmed & Included in Census)

A Pre-test of first phase of Census (HLO) i.e. a full rehearsal of the entire census methodology including the appointment and trainings of the census field functionaries and other officers/officials of state, questionnaire, relevant apps and portals and all other related activities from data collection to data processing was conducted in all States/UTs in November, 2025 in about 5000 blocks.

All the administrative units have been frozen for the period 01.01.2026 to 31.03.2027. Census 2027 will be conducted in 36 States/UTs, 7,092 sub-districts, 5,128 Statutory towns, 4,580 Census towns and around 6,39,902 villages, as on 01.01.2026.

Elaborate arrangement for training of Census functionaries has been made. 100 National Trainers have been trained by subject matter experts who have trained about 2000 Master Trainers. These Master Trainers are training about 45000 Field Trainers who in turn will train about 31 Lakh Enumerators and Supervisors in about 80 thousand batches. All possible training materials have been prepared in regional languages so as to ensure that our last mile foot soldiers, the Enumerators and Supervisors do not face difficulty in collecting quality data in a timely manner.

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Annex

State & UT-wise Houselisting and Housing Census and SE Period

*Gujarat- Subject to change

**Jharkhand- Notification of intention to conduct census published.   For HLO period notification to be issued.