The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has notified the schedule for the 2027 Census and finalised the questionnaire for the first phase of data collection.
The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India issued the notification on January 22, outlining that the Census will be conducted between April 1 and September 30, 2027.
The ministry has approved 33 questions for the houselisting and housing census phase. These questions were originally proposed for the 2021 Census, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first phase will collect data on building identification, materials used for floors, walls and roofs, the condition and use of houses, household size, ownership status, and the number of dwelling rooms.
Census officials will gather information using a standardised houselisting schedule within their assigned areas.
The questionnaire also seeks details about the head of the household, including gender and social category, as well as information on basic amenities such as drinking water, electricity, toilets, bathing facilities, kitchens, LPG and PNG connections, cooking fuel, wastewater outlets, and sanitation arrangements.
Reflecting the growing importance of digital infrastructure, the form includes questions on access to communication and transport facilities, including mobile phones, internet connectivity, computers, televisions, and vehicles.
The notification clarified that mobile numbers will be collected strictly for census-related communication.
The Census will be conducted in two phases. The first phase, covering houselisting and housing census, will take place from April 1 to September 30.
The second phase, involving population enumeration, will be conducted from October 1 to March 2027 in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Notably, the population enumeration phase will also include a caste census, marking the first such exercise since the 1931 Census.
👉 Click here to read the latest Gujarat news on TheLiveAhmedabad.com