Census 2027: Centre prepones population count in poll-bound Punjab, three other states; enumeration to begin on December 1
PTC News Desk: The Centre has preponed the population count in Punjab, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to December, two months ahead of the rest of the country in view of the schedule Assembly elections in 2027.
A practice of self-enumeration shall begin from November 16th 2026 to November 30th just before the start of house-to-house population enumeration.
Caste count to precede polls
The exercise has been advanced in these states ahead of assembly elections that are due early next year.
"The conduct of Census of the population shall be undertaken in the States of Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and areas other than snow-bound areas of the State of Uttarakhand, from 1st December, 2026 to 4th January, 2027 with a revisional round from January 5, 2027 to January 9, 2027," the notification said.
"The conduct of Census of the population shall be undertaken in the States of Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and areas other than snow-bound areas of the State of Uttarakhand, from 1st December, 2026 to 4th January, 2027 with a revisional round from January 5, 2027 to January 9, 2027," the notification said.
A government statement issued on June 25 said that the Census 2027 reference date for most of the country will be March 1, 2027. This will not apply to Ladakh, snow-covered non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, and certain snow-bound areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The terms of the Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assemblies are scheduled to end by May 2027.
The latest notification brings forward the Census 2027 schedule for Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and parts of Uttarakhand. It also allows people to complete self-enumeration in November 2026 and sets separate reference dates for snow-bound areas and the rest of the country.
The last assembly elections in these four states began on February 10, 2022. The Model Code of Conduct had come into effect on January 8, 2022, when the Election Commission announced the election schedule.
The upcoming census will ask each household 40 questions, compared with 29 questions in the 2011 Census. One of the questions will ask people to state their caste in their own words. Enumerators will record the response without matching it against a pre-decided caste list.
The census will also collect details such as parents' information, passport, Aadhaar, voter ID, driving licence and mobile phone numbers.
Among the states that will go to the polls, caste-related data is expected to be particularly important in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
- PTC NEWS
