New Delhi: On Sunday, Home Minister Amit Shah conducted a review meeting regarding the preparations for the upcoming census, alongside Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and other senior officials in New Delhi.

The 16th census of India, which will include caste enumeration, is scheduled for 2027. The reference date for snow-covered regions like Ladakh is set for October 1, 2026, while the rest of the country will follow on March 1, 2027.

An official statement indicated that the notification for the census will be published in the official gazette on Monday.

During the review, the Home Minister discussed plans with the Union Home Secretary, the Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, and other senior officials.

The census will be executed in two phases. The first phase, known as the Houselisting Operation (HLO), will gather data on housing conditions, assets, and amenities for each household.

The second phase, termed Population Enumeration (PE), will collect demographic, socio-economic, cultural, and other relevant details for every individual in each household.

Caste enumeration will also be a part of this census, as stated in the official announcement.

Approximately 3.4 million enumerators and supervisors, along with around 130,000 census functionaries, will be deployed for the census activities.

This census marks the 16th since its inception and the 8th since India gained independence.

The upcoming census will utilize digital methods, including mobile applications, and will offer self-enumeration options for the public.

Stringent data security protocols will be implemented to safeguard data during collection, transmission, and storage.

The reference date for the Population Census – 2027 will be set at 00:00 hours on the first day of March 2027.

For the Union Territory of Ladakh and certain snow-bound areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be 00:00 hours on October 1, 2026.

This census will be conducted after a gap of 16 years, with the last one having taken place in 2011.