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Centre notifies Census 2027 population count under the Census Act, 1948

By CAShorts DeskPublished Source: The Hindu; Registrar General of India Gazette notifications (censusindia.gov.in); Constitution of India (Legislative Department)

Centre notifies Census 2027 population count under the Census Act, 1948
Illustration (AI-generated)

The Union government on 30 October 2026 notified the population count of Census 2027. Enumerators will visit homes from 25 January to 28 February 2027, followed by a short revisional round. The count stands as at 00:00 hours on 1 March 2027. It covers every State and Union territory except Manipur and the areas given earlier schedules.

Syllabus: Prelims · Polity & Governance; GS2 · Parliament & State Legislatures; GS2 · Executive & Judiciary

Why this matters for UPSC

GS1 population and GS2 polity: the Census Act, 1948, the Union List and Article 82. Prelims can ask who notifies a census; Mains, caste data and seat freeze.

Why it matters

A household in most of India will meet an enumerator early in 2027, or can enter its own details in the fortnight before the visit. Because every answer is fixed to one moment, a child born a day after that moment is left out and a person who dies a day after it is counted, whatever day the enumerator calls. This keeps the national total clean. The caste entry gives the State a count of caste groups beyond the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which policy on welfare and reservation can draw on. The figures also decide when the long freeze on the share of Lok Sabha seats among States can end, so the timing of this count is a federal question.

Prelims pointers

  • Census is entry 69 of List I, the Union List, in the Seventh Schedule; under Article 246 Parliament has exclusive power over Union List subjects.
  • Population control and family planning is entry 20A of the Concurrent List, added by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976; census itself stays in the Union List.
  • Article 82 readjusts Lok Sabha seat allocation and constituencies after each census, but not for the sitting House until it is dissolved.
  • Under Article 82, seats among States stay on the 1971 census and constituencies on the 2001 census until figures of the first census after 2026 are published.
  • In a census, houselisting comes first and population enumeration second; the count of persons is tied to a reference date.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Constitution of India, consider the following statements:

1. Under Article 246(1), Parliament has exclusive power to make laws on the matters in the Union List.

2. Elections to Parliament and the Election Commission are entries in the Concurrent List.

3. Article 82 provides for readjusting the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to the States after each census.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only. Elections to Parliament sit in the Union List, not the Concurrent List.

Statement 1: correct. Article 246(1) gives Parliament exclusive power over the matters in List I, the Union List, which includes Census as entry 69.

Statement 2: incorrect. Entry 72 of List I, the Union List, covers elections to Parliament and the Election Commission.

Statement 3: correct. Article 82 readjusts the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to the States upon the completion of each census.

Eliminate: statement 2 places a Union List subject in the Concurrent List. Out: (b), (d).

Eliminate: statement 3 reads Article 82 correctly. Out: (a).

Trap: Wrong scope. A Union List subject is moved to the Concurrent List.

Remember: Census (entry 69) and elections to Parliament (entry 72) are both Union List subjects, so only Parliament legislates on them.

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