The next Census of India will be conducted during the year 2027, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified on Monday.A senior government official told The Hindu that with the publication of the notification, the freezing of administrative boundaries comes into effect, barring States from making any changes to the maps of police stations, districts, and tehsils, among others, as enumeration blocks form the basis of Census. The boundaries of administrative units cannot be changed by States till the Census process is complete, the official said.The Registrar General of India, under the MHA, issued the notification in the Gazette of India in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948.“The reference date for the said census shall be 00.00 hours of the 1st day of March, 2027, except for the Union territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In respect of the Union territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date shall be 00:00 hours of the 1st day of October, 2026,” the notification said.On April 30, the Union Cabinet decided to include caste enumeration as part of the next Census exercise. The population Census 2027 will, for the first time, enumerate caste.भारत की जनगणना 2027 हेतु अधिसूचना जारी। इसके साथ जनगणना की प्रक्रिया प्रारम्भ होती है।संदर्भ तिथि: सभी राज्यों/केंद्र शासित प्रदेशों हेतु 1 मार्च 2027; परंतु लद्दाख, जम्मू-कश्मीर, हिमाचल प्रदेश व उत्तराखंड राज्यों के हिमाच्छादित क्षेत्रों के लिए 1 अक्टूबर, 2026 होगी ।@HMOIndiapic.twitter.com/QtS9PIB08J— Census India 2027 (@CensusIndia2027) June 16, 2025The MHA said in a statement on Sunday that the ensuing Census will be conducted through digital means, using mobile applications, where the provision of self-enumeration would also be made available to the people.“Very stringent data security measures would be kept in place to ensure data security at the time of collection, transmission and storage,” the Ministry said.A senior government official said that, in the coming days, separate notifications would be issued for the pre-test exercise, and the House Listing Operations, which will specify the dates of the first phase of the Census. The pre-test exercise is necessary to determine the efficacy of mobile apps, and the enumerators’ familiarity with the entire process.A pre-test was carried out in 2019 in 76 districts of 36 States and Union Territories, covering a population of over 26 lakh. For Census 2021, as many as 31 questions were notified for the first phase.On July 30, 2019 three months after Census 2021 was notified, another notification for updating the National Population Register (NPR) under the Citizenship Act, 1955 was published by the government in the official gazette. The NPR, which is the start of the creation of National Register of Citizens (NRC), was first collected in 2010, and later updated in 2015. It has data of 119 crore residents, and was to be updated with the first phase of Census 2021. This time, there has been no official announcement regarding the NPR.The previous Census was held in 2011, and the subsequent exercise, scheduled to take place in 2021, was delayed indefinitely, initially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.According to the Constitutional mandate, the first Census after 2026 can be used as the basis to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies. The next General Election is expected to be held in 2029.On Sunday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the preparations for the exercise. The Census will be conducted in two phases — ‘House Listing Operations’, and ‘Population Enumeration’. Around 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors, and 1.3 lakh Census functionaries will be deployed for the exercise, which would be conducted in two phases, and conclude by March 1, 2027.In a post on X, MHA reiterated that caste will be enumerated in the forthcoming Census.The notification to conduct Census has been published in the Official Gazette today. The Census will include Caste enumeration as well. However, some misleading information is being spread that there is no mention of caste census in the notification. It has already been mentioned… pic.twitter.com/hZ5cxV13xl— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) June 16, 2025