The Indian government is set to initiate the decennial census, a comprehensive population survey, in 2025 after a four-year delay, sources revealed on Monday. Originally scheduled for 2021, the process was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, impacting the census cycle.
The census operation will span over a year, concluding in 2026. Following the completion of this exercise, the government will commence the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats, expected to wrap up by 2028, sources said.
This announcement comes amid growing calls from opposition parties for a caste census, though the government has yet to commit to such an inclusion. Official details about the census structure and methodology are still pending public release.
The upcoming census will retain traditional data points, including surveys on religion, social class, and population counts across General, Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST) categories. However, sources suggest there may also be expanded surveys examining sub-sects within these groups.
Preparations hint at an immediate start, as the central deputation of Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, has been extended until August 2026 to oversee the census operations. In August, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that the census would be conducted digitally via a mobile phone application, signaling a shift to a fully digital process.
The previous census, conducted over a decade ago, recorded a population of more than 1.21 billion, with a growth rate of 17.7 percent.