Census in four poll-bound states to begin on December 1

Population enumeration for the Census 2027 is set to commence in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and specific areas of Uttarakhand starting from December 1, 2026, and concluding by January 4, 2027, according to the Registrar General of India. This timeline is an advance from previous years' Census exercises scheduled to coincide with state elections in these four constituencies.

The Census Commissioner of India, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, has announced that citizens in these regions can opt for self-enumeration from November 16 to November 30, 2026. The Census will cover Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and the non-snow-bound areas of Uttarakhand, with a revisional round planned from January 5 to 9, 2027. For Ladakh and certain snow-bound regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, the Census begins on October 1, 2026.

In June 2025, the government had announced the country-wide Census reference date as March 1, 2027, excluding Ladakh and snow-bound regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The Census 2027 will gather data on various demographic, socio-cultural, and economic parameters, including migration and fertility characteristics of individuals, across each household.

As state assemblies in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand conclude their terms by May 2027, they are likely to face early elections. Additionally, the house-listing operations for Census 2027 have been deferred for Manipur, as per a separate notification by the Registrar General of India.