India Launches First Fully Digital Census 2027 — PM Modi, President Murmu Among First to Self-Enumerate; Caste Data to Be Collected for First Time Since 1931
India has launched its first-ever fully digital Census, marking a 150-year break from the traditional paper-based process. President Droupadi Murmu, PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were among the first citizens to complete online self-enumeration. The Census will include caste enumeration for the first time since 1931 — a historically significant and politically charged move.
Representative image. Photo: Nationalism News / PTI
India began its historic Census 2027 exercise on April 1, 2026, with the Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO) phase officially inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu. For the first time in the 150-year history of the Indian census, the exercise will be conducted entirely digitally, with over three million census officials using government-developed mobile applications to collect data from approximately 1.4 billion Indians.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and several other senior Union ministers completed their online self-enumeration within the first 24 hours of the exercise, urging all citizens to participate promptly and accurately. "Census 2027 will be a mirror of the new India. I urge every Indian to participate honestly and help build the most comprehensive demographic data in our history," PM Modi said in a nationally televised address.
One of the most politically significant aspects of Census 2027 is the inclusion of caste data for the first time since 1931. Unlike previous censuses that only recorded whether a person belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, Census 2027 will ask every individual to state their specific caste. The decision, announced by the government in May 2025 after sustained pressure from various political parties and caste advocacy groups, is expected to have far-reaching implications for reservation policies, welfare scheme targeting and political representation.
The opposition, including the Congress party and regional caste-based parties, welcomed the move but demanded that the data be released within a fixed timeframe and used transparently to update reservations under the Constitution. Several BJP leaders who had previously argued against caste enumeration described the decision as a necessary step driven by welfare considerations rather than political identity.
The digital-first approach to Census 2027 addresses the significant delay caused by COVID-19, which had pushed back the originally planned 2021 Census by five years. The mobile-based system allows enumerators to upload data in real-time, reducing transcription errors and speeding up processing. Citizens can also submit self-enumeration forms online at the official Census 2027 portal.
Al Jazeera and several international media organisations have described Census 2027 as "history's biggest census" — a recognition of both its scale and the political significance of the caste enumeration component. The full Census data is expected to be released in phases from 2027 onward, with preliminary housing data available by late 2026.
Privacy advocates have raised concerns about the security of the digital platform, given the sensitivity of the caste and income data being collected. The Home Ministry has assured citizens that all data is end-to-end encrypted and will not be shared with any agency except authorised government departments for policy planning purposes.