The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, has reassured the public that individual data collected during the upcoming census will remain confidential and cannot be used for any purpose other than statistical aggregation.
'They want to sabotage the caste census and bury Muslim backward classes, Hindu backward classes, Sikh backward classes and Buddhist backward classes.'
The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Monday passed a resolution urging the Centre to provide the 2011 census data to enable the State Backward Class Commission to prepare an empirical data of the OBC population, in a bid to restore political reservations for its members in local bodies.
Amidst ongoing ethnic tensions, a new political alignment in Manipur sees Meitei and Naga groups uniting to demand an update to the National Register of Citizens with a 1951 base year, a move fiercely opposed by Kuki-Zo communities who fear it will disenfranchise them.
In addition to caste details, the Census will, for the first time, collect personal information such as the total number of bank accounts held by individuals, along with their mobile number, Aadhaar number, voter ID number, passport number and driving licence status, according to the 40 questions notified by the Registrar General of India on Friday.
Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo announced that the Census 2027 will be a fully digital and paperless exercise, utilising mobile technology, AI, and cloud computing for accuracy and efficiency, marking a shift towards data-driven governance.
In an attempt to curb bogus voting and monitor the migration of voters across India, the Election Commission is planning to link the Census data of 2011 with its electoral rolls. The EC then plans to use global positioning system to automatically record the voters' migration or shifting of residence.Once the Census data is made available to the Election Commission, it will be clubbed with the electoral rolls. The GPS chip would be added to the electronic photo identity cards.
The Centre has notified 40 questions for the upcoming Census 2027, including caste and place of Covid vaccination, marking the first time caste details will be collected as part of the decadal exercise. The population enumeration will be a fully digital process, with an option for self-enumeration.
Rajasthan Police have issued an advisory warning citizens about potential cyber fraud attempts disguised as part of the ongoing digital census. Scammers may use various methods, including fake calls, messages, and in-person visits, to steal personal and financial information.
Population Foundation of India welcomes the digitisation of the Census but emphasises the need for inclusivity, data security, and addressing the under-reporting of women's contributions.
'Once the numbers come out, they fear that the OBCs would start to demand, and articulate what they are lacking, why they are lacking and what should be done to go forward.'
'As soon as the BJP feels they are going to lose power, they will publish the caste census data of 2011 and conduct the caste census of 2021.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced that census operations in the state would commence on August 1 and continue until the end of February next year. He criticised the previous government for delaying the process and highlighted the importance of the census for the state.
Four Census officials, including two women, were allegedly assaulted in Odisha's Dhenkanal district while collecting data as part of the Census exercise.
Four Census officials were assaulted in Odisha's Dhenkanal district, prompting the state government to formulate a standard operating procedure (SOP) to safeguard census officials from physical harm and heat-related risks.
Over 93,000 individuals in Delhi have participated in the self-enumeration exercise for Census 2027, with North East, South West, and North West Delhi districts leading in registrations. The initiative, part of a broader census effort, allows residents to submit household details online, contributing to the overall data collection process.
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved Rs 11,718 crore for conducting the Census of India, 2027, which would include the caste enumeration for the first time.
The Congress and BJP are engaged in a political spat over the implementation of the Women's Reservation Bill and its proposed link to delimitation, with Rahul Gandhi urging unconditional implementation of the 2023 law and Kiren Rijiju highlighting the constitutional requirement for delimitation based on post-2026 census figures.
The Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, the first between April and September 2026 and the second in February 2027, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
A new study projects that by 2100, only 38% of the world's population will reside in large cities, a significant reduction from previous estimates. This revised projection is based on a newly discovered urban life cycle, where the growth rate of large cities slows down as countries become more urbanised, contrasting with the rapid growth seen in less urbanised regions. The research highlights the importance of understanding these dynamics for future infrastructure and climate adaptation planning.
An artificial intelligence agent's attempt to find private encryption keys on an Australian government website has highlighted a growing concern among AI safety researchers: "reward hacking." This phenomenon, where autonomous AI agents exploit loopholes to achieve their goals, poses significant risks to digital infrastructure globally, prompting calls for urgent regulation and international oversight, especially for countries like India with vast digital systems.
'Some people may not like what I am saying, but shortcomings have to be pointed out. These deficiencies should be rectified within the next three months.' 'This is Gorakhpur, where our CM himself resides. If such shortcomings exist here, then what will happen?'
Reports of stopping of trains and road blocks are coming in from Patna following the bandh called by the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar against withholding of the caste-based census data by the central government.
Odisha and Uttar Pradesh are among the first to roll out the digital exercise.
The next Census' findings will help identify the extent of India's ageing population and vulnerability levels.
India has launched digital tools for its upcoming fully digital Census 2027, including mobile apps and a self-enumeration portal, aiming for efficient and accurate data collection.
The government has no proposal at present to release the report of the caste census carried out in 2011, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
The much-delayed decadal census exercise and the work to update the National Population Register (NPR) are likely to begin early 2025 and the data will be declared by 2026, thus changing future census cycles completely, official sources said.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also said that the central government has not enumerated caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in census since Independence.
The upcoming delimitation exercise should reflect the social realities uncovered by the census, ensuring proportional political representation for marginalised groups, it read.
Delhi recorded four cases of 'crimes and atrocities against Scheduled Tribes (STs)' in 2024, up from two reported in 2023, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
A special dedicated web portal will be launched for self-enumeration during the upcoming Census, which will be available for both phases of the national enumeration exercise, officials said Monday.
'The reason why they rushed through the bill was they wanted to avoid using the 2026 Census because the 2026 Census by their own decision will be a caste census.' 'The BJP knows that a significant share of the OBCs who will get captured in the census, for the first time after the 1931 Census, are against the BJP. Only a segment of the OBCs are in their favour.' 'So they wanted to avoid the OBC reservation among women, which is a demand of a lot of Opposition parties.'
The Indian government has released the list of questions to be asked during the first phase of the Census 2027, focusing on houselisting and housing enumeration. The survey will cover various aspects of housing conditions, household characteristics, and access to basic amenities.
The Lok Sabha is set to expand to 815 seats, with 272 seats reserved for women, according to Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. The move aims to implement the women's quota without disadvantaging men or any state. The proposed legislations also include provisions for reservation for women from SC and ST categories within the women's quota.
Congress leader Kumari Selja expresses concern over the NCRB report highlighting a surge in crimes against children in Haryana, urging the state government to take immediate action.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor criticised the proposal to increase the Lok Sabha's strength to 850, while BJP leaders defended delimitation as a democratic necessity at the Stanford India Conference 2026.
While data can empower communities, it reinforces identities, making local politics more caste-centric, with decisions increasingly contested on the grounds of representation.
Such dynamics could lead to shifting alliances and, in the worst case, local governance getting paralysed as each group demands proportional power-sharing, explain Amitabh Kundu and Mehebub Rahaman.
'What is going on is the under counting of the migration population in urban areas.' 'It has been going on in the last few censuses.'
US President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders aimed at cracking down on 'birth tourism' and limiting eligibility for birthright citizenship, weeks after the Supreme Court rejected a similar directive.
