The Central Government has notified that the second phase of the Population Census 2026 will begin in Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand from September 1 to September 30, 2026.
The notification was issued by Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan through a Gazette notification on Monday.
According to the notification, the Population Enumeration phase will be carried out between September 1 and September 30, 2026.
A revisional round will be conducted from October 1 to October 5, 2026, to update any changes or include people who may have been missed during the initial enumeration.
For the first time, residents in these regions will have the option of self-enumeration before the house-to-house survey begins.
The self-enumeration window will remain open from:
- August 17 to August 31, 2026
This option allows eligible residents to submit their Census information before field enumerators begin visiting households.
The government has fixed the reference date for the Census in these regions as:
00:00 hours on October 1, 2026
The reference date is used to determine the official population count for the Census.
The notification states that the Population Enumeration for the rest of the country is expected to begin next year.
The Census is being conducted in two phases:
- House Listing and Housing Census (HLO)
- Population Enumeration
A significant feature of the upcoming Census is that it will collect caste details during the Population Enumeration phase for the first time since Independence.
The decision to include caste enumeration was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on April 30, 2025.
The first phase, known as the House Listing and Housing Census (HLO), is currently underway and will continue until September 30, 2026.
Field operations began on April 16 in several states and Union Territories.
During this phase, enumerators visit every building and household to collect information about housing conditions and basic amenities.
During the House Listing phase, enumerators collect responses to 33 questions, including:
- Name and gender of the head of the household
- Ownership status of the house
- Availability of basic household facilities
- Details of residential structures and households
This information forms the foundation for the Population Enumeration phase.
The Census exercise, originally scheduled for 2021, was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The upcoming Census will be India’s eighth Census since Independence.
The Union Cabinet has approved ₹11,718 crore for conducting the nationwide exercise, making it one of the largest population enumeration programmes in the world.
