NEW DELHI: The Census exercise, put on hold over five years ago due to the Covid outbreak, may start on April 1, 2026, ending with the population count to be taken with the midnight of March 1, 2027 as the reference date. The caste of each resident of the country will be recorded, in a first since the decennial headcount of 1931, as part of the exercise, which potentially holds the key to two other decisions of far-reaching significance – delimitation and implementation of women’s quota in legislatures.Sources in the home ministry said the Census – the first one to capture data digitally – will follow a schedule similar to Census 2011; it will be held in two phases – the houselisting phase to be conducted non-synchronously over a 45-day period across states and UTs anytime between April 1, 2026 and Sept 30, 2026; followed by the population enumeration phase, which will also record caste this time, between Feb 9 and 28, 2027. The population count will be recorded as on March 1, 2027, followed by a revisional round from March 1 and 5, 2027.The snow-bound areas of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and J&K, along with Ladakh, will undertake population enumeration six months before the rest of India, that is, sometime in Sept 2026, with the midnight of Oct 1, 2026, being their ‘non-synchronous’ reference date. With tech, census data to be out much faster than in past There was no clarity on whether National Population Register updation will be done along with the population enumeration phase, like it was done in 2011.The intent to conduct Census after 15 years is bound to be welcomed by policymakers and beneficiaries alike. The exercise is an important data-source for delimitation and reservation of constituencies across all three tiers of govt. It provides a snapshot of the country’s population at a given point of time and forms a critical input for planning and formulation of policy initiatives. Census tables also aid research in fields like demography, economics, anthropology, sociology etc.Since the upcoming Census will embrace the digital mode – with respondents free to self-enumerate or have the enumerators capture data on their phones or tablets through the Census app or portal – govt sources said the tables relating to various data fields captured will release much sooner than the earlier decadal counts involving a lag of 5-6 years. A senior functionary said caste data may be released in three years. However, it is unlikely that the caste count by itself will form the basis for reservation.Though a countrywide socio-economic caste census was done in 2011, it returned around 46 lakh castes, with inaccuracies that kept the data from being made public. In recent years, Bihar, Karnataka and Telangana have undertaken their own caste surveys.Census 2027 may also fulfil the condition set under the delimitation law, for being the basis for the next delimitation, which is crucial not only to decide the representation of states/UTs in Lok Sabha but also for implementing 33% reservation for women in LS and state assemblies. As per the law, the next delimitation exercise must be conducted based on the first Census to be undertaken after 2026, though no day or month has been specified.The home ministry on Wednesday said the notification regarding the intent to conduct Census 2027 will tentatively be issued on June 16. Refresher training of enumerators and Census staff may follow; sources did not rule out a fresh pre-test, last conducted in Aug-Sept 2019, in view of digitisation of the process and adding of new data fields like caste.Though only Rs 574 crore was allotted for Census – set to cost over Rs 13,000 crore, along with NPR updation – in 2025-26 Budget, govt sources said finding additional resources was not an issue.Five states/UTs – West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry – are due to go to the polls in May-June 2026 but will have the flexibility to choose a 45-day houselisting schedule anytime between April 1 and Sept 30 to avoid a clash.