NEW DELHI:The houselisting operations for the forthcoming Census will begin on April 1, 2026, marking the start of the first phase of the decennial exercise, the Registrar General of India has said.

In a letter to the chief secretaries of states and Union Territories, Census Commissioner and Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said the Houselisting Operations and Housing Census shall begin on April 1, 2026. Before that, the appointment of supervisors and enumerators, and the distribution of work among them, shall be done with the cooperation of state and district administrations, it said.

The Census is a two-phase exercise — in phase one, i.e., the Houselisting Operation (HLO), data on housing conditions, assets, and amenities of each household will be collected. Subsequently, in the second phase, i.e., Population Enumeration (PE), the demographic, socio-economic, cultural, and other details of every person in each household will be collected. This is scheduled for February 1, 2027, according to the letter. A government statement also confirmed that caste enumeration will be conducted in the Census.

For Census activities, over 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors, and around 1.3 lakh Census functionaries, will be deployed. This will be the 16th Census of India and the eighth since independence. The forthcoming Census will be conducted through digital means using mobile applications. A provision for self-enumeration will also be made available to the public.

The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner has prepared around three dozen questions to be asked of citizens. The survey will ask households about the ownership of items like phones, internet, vehicles (bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, car, jeep, van), and appliances (radio, TV, transistor), among others. Citizens will also be asked about cereal consumption, sources of drinking water and lighting, type and access to latrines, wastewater disposal, bathing and kitchen facilities, fuel used for cooking, and LPG/PNG connection.

Additional questions will include materials used for the floor, walls, and roof of the house; its condition; the number of residents and rooms; presence of married couples; and whether the household head is female or belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Tribe.