Census 2027 Will Be Conducted Through Digital Means: Nityanand Rai, MoS (Home)
Caste enumeration will also be done as decided by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, vide its decision dated April 4, 2025: MHA
Published : December 2, 2025 at 6:00 PM IST
New Delhi: Reiterating that caste enumeration will be done in the Census 2027, the Union Home Ministry on Tuesday said that the process will be conducted through digital means.
"Census 2027 will be conducted through digital means. Data will be collected through mobile apps along with an online provision for self-enumeration. The entire process is to be monitored through a web portal,” said Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai in Parliament.
Responding to an unstarred question raised in the Lok Sabha, Rai said that the pre-test of the first phase of the Census, that is, house listing and Housing Census, has been organised as per the gazette notification dated October 16, 2025 in the selected sample areas in the States and UTs.
"In Census 2027, caste enumeration will be done as decided by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, vide its decision dated April 4, 2025," Rai said, in response to a query raised by Congress MP Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy and BJP MP Etela Rajender.
Responding to another query raised by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Rai said that Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, namely Phase I: house listing and housing census over a period of 30 days from April to September 2026 as per the convenience of the State and UT governments, followed by Phase II: the population enumeration (PE).
“Population enumeration will be done in February 2027, with reference date 00:00 hours of March 1, 2027, except for the Union Territory of Ladakh, the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where it will be done in September, 2026, with reference date 00.00 hours of October 1, 2026," Rai said.
When asked if the Government has any proposal to publish the draft Census questions and seek inputs from the general public or people’s representatives on these, Rai said the Census questionnaire is finalised on the basis of inputs and suggestions from different ministries, departments, organisations, Census data users, etc. before each Census.
"The draft Census questionnaires are pre-tested in the field to assess their feasibility, before finalisation of the same. As per Rule 6 of Census Rules, 1990, the Census questionnaires are notified by the Central Government through its Official Gazette, under sub-section (1) of Section 8 of the Act," he said.
Rai further said, "Census has a history of more than 150 years. Learnings from the previous Census are taken into consideration for conducting the next Census. Before each Census, inputs are also taken from concerned stakeholders.”
To another query raised by Trinamool Congress MP Shatrughan Sinha, on whether teachers will be assigned as enumerators for the Census operation, Rai said, “During the Census, primary school teachers are usually appointed as enumerators. The timeline for Census 2027 has been kept the same as past practices followed in previous Census.”
“In the Census, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are enumerated strictly as per the list of SCs and STs, notified vide the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 (as amended time to time),” Rai said, when asked about the name and total number of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, and other castes that would be listed in the Census.
Also Read:
