The enumeration will begin in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and some parts of Uttarakhand on December 1, while the rest of India follows in February.Prefer HTon Google The Centre has moved the population count in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and parts of Uttarakhand to December, two months ahead of the rest of the country, clearing the census out of the quarter in which all four states are expected to go to the polls, according to a gazette notification issued on Saturday.The advance means the first caste enumeration in independent India will likely be held weeks prior to people in these four states casting their vote. (HT File Photo)Caste count to precede pollsThe advance means the first caste enumeration in independent India will likely be held weeks prior to people in these four states casting their vote.Enumerators will begin door-to-door work in the four states on December 1 and finish on January 4, with a revision round — a short follow-up to update households that changed after the first visit — running to January 9. Self-enumeration, under which residents enter their household details online before an enumerator calls, opens on November 16.The rest of the country will be counted from February.Staff shortage drives schedule changeA senior official aware of the matter, who asked not to be named, said “the dates for poll-bound states have been advanced to have manpower available for elections as well as Census, because a large number of staff used in both the exercises are teachers or state government staff”. Teachers and state government employees staff both the census and polling booths.In the last elections in these four states, polling began on February 10, 2022, with the model code of conduct having kicked in on January 8, 2022, the day the Election Commission announced the schedule.The census will put 40 questions to every household, 11 more than in 2011. Question 10 asks respondents to declare caste in open-ended format, meaning enumerators record what is stated without matching it to any prepared list. Others seek parental details, passport, Aadhaar, voter ID, driving licence and mobile numbers.Among the four poll-bound states, caste arithmetic is seen as a particularly key factor in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.Schedule for the election bound states. (HT Photo)Reference date advanced for four statesThe notification, issued by registrar general of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, also advances the reference date for the four states — the moment at which the data collected is treated as valid — to 00.00 hours on January 5, 2027. For the rest of the country it remains March 1, 2027.Uttarakhand will be counted in two tranches. Its snowbound belt — 131 villages and three towns across Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh, covering about 52,000 people, according to the state census directorate — is being enumerated now, alongside Ladakh and the snowbound areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, where field work began on September 1 against an October 1 reference date. The rest of the state follows in December.Digital census rolls out nationwideCensus 2027 is the first to be conducted digitally, on a dedicated mobile application that works online and offline and a portal that monitors field operations in real time. The compressed five-week window in the four poll-bound states will run entirely on that system.Data collection nationally is targeted to conclude by March 1, 2027, though officials have said collation and publication will take a further two to three years.Voters in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand will go to the polls with the count taken and the results years away.Opposition questions timingThe Opposition questioned the change in schedule. “This shows shoddy planning since it was known that these elections were due. Why the sudden dawn of wisdom? Undoubtedly there are some nefarious political calculations afoot,” senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.In a separate notification on Saturday, the RGI deferred the census in Manipur “till further declaration”, formalising a decision taken on August 31 amid violence and demands to update the National Register of Citizens before the population count.Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.Read MoreUttar PradeshPunjabGoaCensusGet the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather major national developments and Karnataka Bandh LIVE.See Less