New Delhi: The Union Government has officially announced that a caste census will be conducted across the country in two phases, beginning March 1, 2027. This initiative will be carried out as part of the broader national population census.
As per the schedule, the first phase will start on October 1, 2026, in Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. The second phase, covering all remaining states and Union Territories, will begin on March 1, 2027.
The decision was approved during the Cabinet meeting held on April 30, with the government clarifying that caste enumeration will be integrated within the main population census, rather than conducted as a separate survey.
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India conducts its decennial census every ten years, with the last one completed in 2011. The 2021 census was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Opposition parties, which have long demanded a caste-based count, welcomed the Centre’s move following the Cabinet’s green light.
India’s first census was carried out in 1872, laying the foundation for systematic population data collection in the country.