Outcome of Census 2027 will serve as new compass for development: Amit Shah

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the outcome of the Census 2027 will serve as the new compass for development, mirroring India's latest population data with more accuracy.

Shah said the Union Cabinet approved the budget for Census 2027 by earmarking Rs 11,718.24 crore for the largest administrative and statistical exercise in the world.

In a message posted on X, he said, "The precision in data will accelerate Modi Ji's vision of delivering the benefits of good governance and development to citizens of every demographic denomination, making the slogan of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' a grand reality of New India in the Amrit Kaal." The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the proposal to conduct the Census which will be the first digital exercise of its kind.

The 16th edition of the Census since Independence will do a caste enumeration besides giving an option of self-enumeration to the citizens.

The decadal exercise, which was scheduled to take place in 2021, got postponed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic across the country.

The Census will be conducted in two phases -- house-listing and housing census from April to September, 2026; and population enumeration (PE) in February 2027.

For Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the PE exercise shall be conducted in September, 2026, the minister said.

Around 30 lakh enumerators will visit each and every household and canvass a separate questionnaire for Houselisting & Housing Census and Population Enumeration.

The Census 2027 will also capture caste data electronically in the PE phase. PTI ABS KSS KSS