Srinagar, June 16, KNT: The long-awaited national Census will officially begin in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh from midnight of October 1, 2026, marking the first comprehensive population count in the Union Territories since 2011.
The announcement was made by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday, bringing clarity on the much-delayed enumeration process.
Unlike the rest of the country, where the Census is set to start from March 1, 2027, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, along with Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, have been prioritised for an early rollout due to climatic and logistical considerations.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level meeting earlier in the day to review the preparedness for the massive exercise. The meeting was attended by the Home Secretary, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, and other senior officials.
The upcoming census will be conducted in two distinct phases. The first phase, known as the House Listing Operation (HLO), will collect information about the housing conditions, household assets, and available amenities. The second phase, termed the Population Enumeration (PE), will involve collecting detailed demographic, socio-economic, and cultural data, including caste and religion, from every individual in each household.
This will be the first census to include a caste-based enumeration, a politically sensitive issue long demanded by various regional and national political parties, especially in states like Bihar. While Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are already enumerated in previous censuses, this time the data will include Other Backward Classes (OBCs) as well, despite the challenge of non-uniform OBC lists across states.
Importantly, the 2026-27 Census will be India’s first digital census, allowing residents to self-enumerate using digital platforms. The last population count was conducted in 2011, as the 2021 census was deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making this the first census in 16 years. [KNT]
