Self-Enumeration Facility to Remain Open from January 10 to 24; Census Exercise to Continue Till February 28, 2027
New Delhi, October 30 :
The Government of India has officially notified the schedule for conducting the next Census of Population in most States and Union Territories, with the house-to-house enumeration process scheduled to commence on January 25, 2027, and continue until February 28, 2027.
According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Office of the Registrar General of India, dated October 30, 2026, the Census exercise will be conducted under the provisions of Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948, read with Rules 6A and 6D of the Census Rules, 1990.
As per the notification, a revisional round of population enumeration will be undertaken from March 1 to March 5, 2027, following the completion of the main census exercise.
The notification also introduces an option for self-enumeration, allowing citizens to submit their population-related details independently before the commencement of the house-to-house exercise. This facility will remain available from January 10 to January 24, 2027.
The government has further specified that the reference date for the Census will be 00:00 hours on March 1, 2027, which will serve as the official reference point for the population enumeration.
However, the notified schedule will not apply to Manipur until a further declaration, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, the Union Territory of Ladakh, and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The notification has been issued under the signature of Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner, on behalf of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The notification marks an important step towards the preparations for the upcoming nationwide population enumeration, which will collect updated demographic and population-related information across the country.