Census 2027: Govt Issues Gazette Notification For Population Count

The outcome of the census is key for policymaking. The data will help the government evaluate its ongoing social sector schemes and the impact they have had. It also provides critical information and insights for corporate India to plan and execute their initiatives. 

According to officials, the Census is going to be conducted in two phases, comprising House Listing Operation (HLO) in the first phase, which will collect data on the housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household; followed by the second phase, Population Enumeration (PE), during which demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household will be collected. 

The 2027 Census will also incorporate caste enumeration for the first time since Independence. Overall, this will be the 16th Census since its beginning in 1881, and the 8th since Independence.

The gazette notification, which has been issued in the name of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), said, "The reference date for the said census shall be 00.00 hours of the 1st day of March, 2027, except for the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.”

It went on to add that concerning the regions excluded (see above), “The reference date shall be 00:00 hours of the 1st day of October, 2026."

Amit Shah Reviews Preparedness  

On June 15, Home Minister Amit Shah held a high-level meeting to review the preparations for the upcoming Census, which was attended by, among others, Home Secretary Govind Mohan, and Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan. 

After the meeting, in an “X” post, the Home Minister wrote, “Reviewed the preparations for the 16th Census with senior officials. Tomorrow, the gazette notification of the Census will be issued. The Census will include caste enumeration for the first time.” He added that as many as 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors, and around 1.3 lakh Census functionaries, will conduct the operation with cutting-edge mobile digital gadgets.

Census Through Digital Means

The ensuing Census will be conducted through digital means using mobile applications. Provision of ‘self-enumeration’ would be made available to the people, which would later be verified by government enumerators.

The officials said the government has put in place a robust data security system to ensure no leak takes place during the entire process, from the time of collection and transmission to storage.

Delimitation & Women's Reservation Next

The exercise will not only open the doors for delimitation, but also facilitate the government to fulfil its promise under the law to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament.

According to sources, once the final data is out, which could be by late 2027, it will open the doors for the process of delimitation. Before that, though, Parliament would have to pass a Delimitation Act to pave the way for the formation of a Delimitation Commission.

The Commission would then devise a formula (population per constituency), in consultation with various stakeholders, including state governments, based on which the delimitation exercise would be conducted, the sources said, adding that a Bill would be brought for constitutional amendment to increase the number of seats in Parliament, which remain frozen at 543.

Delimitation is mandated under Articles 81 and 82 of the Constitution and is required to be carried out after every Census. This has happened thrice, based on the census figures of 1951, 1961, and 1971.

But, with the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution, passed during the Emergency, the total number of parliamentary and state Assembly seats was frozen until the 2001 Census.

Under provisions of the Delimitation Act, 2002, there have been instances of delimitation carried out, but based on the 2001 Census, resulting in only the boundaries of constituencies being altered, not the number of seats, which has remained the same since 1971.

Later in 2002, the Constitution was again amended (84th Amendment) to specify that there would be no interstate delimitation of constituencies until the “first Census conducted after the year 2026”.

According to the Delimitation Act of 2002, the Delimitation Commission is to be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, and would need a Chief Election Commissioner and State Election Commissioners as members. The Commission will also have MPs and MLAs as associate members, without having any voting rights.

The Centre will need to pass a constitutional amendment to increase the total number of seats in Parliament, which would require a two-thirds majority. According to Article 81 of the Constitution, the total number of seats in the Lok Sabha can't exceed 550 as of now.