Census 2027 begins

Phase one, the houselisting and housing census, runs between April and September 2026, each state taking a 30-day window. The population count follows in February 2027, with a reference date of 1 March 2027, or 1 October 2026 in Ladakh and the snowbound parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand; castes are to be enumerated in that phase. Enumerators record data on a mobile app, and households can first enter their own details online in 16 languages. The census due in 2021 was postponed during the pandemic.

The count matters for the map. With Article 82 unchanged, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats among the states stays frozen until figures from the first census taken after 2026 are published, and this census is expected to be that one. On 17 April 2026 the Lok Sabha voted down a constitutional amendment that would have raised its maximum size to 850 and redrawn constituencies on the 2011 figures. PRS Legislative Research estimated that at the present size those figures would cut Tamil Nadu from 39 seats to 32 and raise Uttar Pradesh from 80 to 89.