New Delhi: The Union government announced on Wednesday (June 4) that the population census along with the enumeration of castes will be conducted in two phases starting October 1, 2026.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a statement said that the reference date for the  population census will be 12 am on March 1, 2027, while for the Union territory of Ladakh and the non-synchronous snow-bound areas of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be 12 am October 1, 2026.

This will be the first time that the population census will be conducted after a gap of 15 years. The last population census was conducted in 2011, with the exercise in 2021 delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The last Census of India was conducted in 2011 in two phases, namely (i) Phase I – House Listing (April 1 to September 30, 2010) and (ii) Phase II – Population Enumeration (February 9 to February 28, 2011)  with reference date – 00:00 hours of the first day of March 2011, except for snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh for which it was conducted during September 11 to 30, 2010 with reference date as 00.00 hours of the first day of October 2010,” the MHA’s statement said.

While the MHA said that the census in 2021 was also proposed to be conducted in two phases in a similar manner, with a first phase during April-September 2020 and a second phase in February 2021, and that it was delayed due to the pandemic, it did not provide any reason for why the exercise was delayed for five years.

“All the preparations for the first phase of the Census to be conducted in 2021 were completed and field work was scheduled to begin in some States/UTs from April 1, 2020. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic across the country, the census work was postponed,” the MHA statement said.

Opposition questions delay

Opposition parties have questioned the government’s move to delay the population census further by announcing its commencement in October 2026.

“There is really no reason to delay the Census that was due in 2021 for another 23 months. The Modi Govt is capable only of generating headlines, not meeting deadlines,” said Congress MP Jairam Ramesh.

Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin said that the BJP’s move to delay the census to 2027 (when it will be conducted in most of India) makes clear its plan to reduce Tamil Nadu’s parliamentary representation.

“The Indian constitution mandates that #delimitation must follow the first Census after 2026. The BJP has now delayed the Census to 2027, making their plan clear to reduce Tamil Nadu’s parliamentary representation. I had warned about this. It is now unfolding,” he said.

Delimitation has become a contentious issue with several southern states fearing a loss of representation in parliament for implementing better population control measures.

In 1976, on the basis of on 1971 census figures, a freeze on delimitation was imposed to protect states that had reduced their population growth rates through family planning from losing seats to states with higher population growth.

In 2001, the freeze was extended to 2026.

In April, the Union government had announced that caste data will be enumerated along with the decadal census, but had not provided any timeline for when the decadal census or the corresponding caste census will be conducted.

A nationwide caste census has been a longstanding demand of opposition parties and was a central issue during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

While announcing the cabinet’s decision on April 20, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that the move demonstrated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to the values and interests of the society and country. He had accused the INDIA bloc of using the caste census as a “political tool” and said that Congress governments have “always opposed caste census”.

However, the Union government’s decision was a sharp reversal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s stance in the 2024 election campaign, when it had dismissed the demand for a caste census as a move to divide society.

Samajwadi Party chief and Lok Sabha MP Akhilesh Yadav tied it to the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections due in 2027.

“Meaning, when PDA government comes to power in UP, only then will the caste census begin,” he said referring to his ‘Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak’ plank introduced during the 2024 elections.

Courtesy: The Wire