New Delhi: The house-listing operations for the forthcoming census will begin from Apr. 1, 2026, marking the start of the first phase of the decennial exercise, the Registrar General of  India has said.

In a letter to Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories, Census Commissioner and Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said the House-listing Operations and Housing Census shall begin on Apr. 1, 2026.

Before that the appointment of supervisors, enumerators and work distribution among them shall be done with cooperation from States and District Administrations, it said.

The census is a two-phase exercise — in phase one, that is, House-listing Operation (HLO), the housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household will be collected. Subsequently, in the second phase, that is, Population Enumeration (PE), the demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household will be collected which is scheduled for Feb. 1, 2027, according to the letter.

In the census, caste enumeration will also be done, a government statement had said.

For census activities, over 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors and around 1.3 lakh census functionaries would be deployed. It is the 16th census till now and the eighth after independence.

The forthcoming census will be conducted through digital means using mobile applications. Provision of self-enumeration would also be made available to the people. The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner had prepared around three dozen questions to be asked to the citizens.

The survey will ask households about ownership of items like phones, internet, vehicles (bicycle, scooter, motorcycle,  car, jeep, van) and appliances (radio, TV, transistor) among others.

The citizens will also be asked about cereal consumption, sources of drinking water and lighting, type and access to latrines, wastewater disposal, bathing and kitchen facilities, fuel used for cooking and LPG/PNG connection.