Census 2027: the snow-bound count is done; here is how India's first digital census works and what comes next

Two reference dates

The census was notified on 16 June 2025. Its reference date, the moment the count describes, is 00:00 hours on 1 March 2027 for most of India.

For Ladakh and the snow-bound, non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date is 1 October 2026, so people there are counted before winter cuts off access.

Two phases, and what is new

The census has two phases: houselisting and housing census first, then population enumeration.

Caste will be enumerated for the first time since Independence. Every caste is to be listed individually, with no consolidated OBC category, while SC and ST categories and religion continue as before.

Data is being collected digitally for the first time. The first phase began with self-enumeration on 1 April 2026, followed by door-to-door houselisting from 16 April, with each state completing it within a 30-day window between April and September 2026.

The snow-bound count in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh

On 6 October 2026 the Director of Census Operations for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Amit Sharma, said population enumeration in the snow-bound areas was completed between 1 and 30 September, across 5,292 enumeration blocks: 4,597 in Jammu and Kashmir and 695 in Ladakh.

A five-day revision round to add corrections and anyone missed ended on 5 October.

What happens next

The rest of Jammu and Kashmir, including Srinagar and Jammu, will be counted in the main enumeration, scheduled for February 2027.

District Census Handbook work runs from 1 to 30 October 2026. Provisional population figures are expected only after the main count is finished next year.