First phase of the population census will commence in April
The Centre has asked states and Union territories to make any proposed changes in the boundaries of administrative units before December 31 this year, when they will be considered final for the census exercise, first phase of which will begin on April 1, 2026.
In a letter dated June 27 to all states and UTs, registrar general and census commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan said that for the census, all villages and towns are divided into uniform enumeration blocks and for each block, an enumerator is assigned to avoid any miss or repetition during the population count.
“From April 1, 2026, the Houselisting Operation, the appointment of supervisors and enumerators and the work division among them will be done, and on February 1, 2027, the Census of the population will begin,” Narayan said in his letter to chief secretaries of all states and UTs. “It is important that once enumeration blocks are finalised, boundaries of administrative units are not changed.”
The registrar general further asked the chief secretaries to direct all departments “to make any proposed changes in the boundaries of municipal corporations, revenue villages, tehsils, sub-divisions or districts before December 31”.
“The states/UTs should ensure that no changes should be made in the boundaries of administrative units between January 1, 2026, and March 31, 2027, during which Census exercise will take place. Any changes in the existing boundaries must be intimated to Census directorates in the states and UTs and Registrar General of India by December 31, 2025. For Census 2027, boundaries of administrative units will be frozen on December 31, 2025,” the letter added.
To ensure a fair workload for enumerators, an administrative unit is divided into manageable sections for the census called “blocks”. A block is a clearly defined area within a village or town on a notional map for census purposes.