New Delhi, June 6: The Narendra Modi-led Central government on Wednesday, June 4, said that the Population Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, and will also include the enumeration of castes. Notably, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced in a statement that the census would follow different reference dates depending on the region, in accordance with logistical and climatic factors. According to the MHA statement, the reference date for the Population Census 2027 will be 00:00 hours on March 1, 2027, for most parts of the country. However, the reference date for the Union Territory of Ladakh and the non-synchronous snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand will be 00:00 hours on October 1, 2026.

It is worth noting that the 2027 Census will be the first digital census, which will give citizens across the country an opportunity to self-enumerate. The central government recently decided to carry out caste enumeration along with the census. According to a PTI report, the entire Census exercise is expected to cost the government over INR 13,000 crore. It is also learned that the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner have prepared around 36 questions which will be asked to citizens during the upcoming census. The news agency report also states that at least a hundred national trainers would be trained at the apex level on both census and trainer development skills. Did Caste Census Ever Happen Before in India? As Modi Govt Takes Big Decision of Including Caste Enumeration in Next Census, Know When First and Last Time It Was Conducted.

These national trainers will then impart the training to 1800 master trainers, who then share the training with 45,000 field trainers, who would in turn train field functionaries, i.e., the enumerators and the supervisors. The report further states that the questions comprise a crucial part of the training as they have been designed to find out about the growth Indian households achieved since 2011, when the last census was conducted. While the Census is less than 24 months away, it's important to know the list of questions that will be asked during the Population Census 2027.

List of Questions That Will Be Part of Census 2027

It is reported that the list of questions to be asked during population census in 2027 include whether a family has a telephone, internet connection, mobile or smartphone, bicycle, scooter or motorcycle or moped, and whether they own a car, jeep or a van. Other questions will be the cereal people consume, main source of drinking water, whether they have access to latrine and availability of bathing facility among others. Caste Census To Be Part of Population Census, Announces Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw (Watch Video).

  • Name, whether married or single, details of children and educational qualification

  • Employment (Public, private, self, etc.)

  • Whether they own a telephone ,an  internet connection, a mobile or a smartphone

  • If they own a bicycle, scooter or motorcycle, car or moped

  • The cereal they consume is the main source of drinking water

  • What is the main source of lighting, and do they have access to latrines, type of latrine, etc?

  • If there is a wastewater outlet and availability of the bathing facility,

  • Availability of kitchen and LPG/PNG connection, or the main fuel used for cooking

  • Availability of radio, transistor or television

  • Total number of people residing in the household and whether the head of the household is a woman or a man

  • Whether the head of the household belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe

  • Number of dwelling rooms and the number of married couples living in the household, among other things

It must be recalled that the last Census was conducted in 2011 in two phases, with Phase I of House Listing (HLO) from April 1 to September 30, 2010, and Phase II of Population Enumeration (PE) held from February 9 to 28, 2011. The reference date for the 2011 census was 00:00 hours of the first day of March 2011, except for snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh for which the census was conducted between September 11 to 30, 2010, with reference date as 00.00 hours of the first day of October 2010.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 06, 2025 02:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).