The official notification by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on June 16, 2025, that India will finally conduct its long-delayed decennial census, now scheduled to begin on March 1, 2027, marked a historic moment in India's journey. After an unprecedented 16-year gap, the nation's first digital and caste-enumerating census promises not only a technological upgrade but also a social reckoning that could reshape electoral representation, governance priorities, and the future of social justice.

The last official count, conducted in 2011, is now obsolete for a country undergoing seismic demographic, economic, and political shifts. Originally scheduled for 2021, the 16th Indian Census was delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing logistical and political complexities.

The upcoming exercise will not only fill that vacuum but also act as the constitutional trigger for redrawing Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies, and for the operationalisation of 33% reservation for women in Parliament and State Legislatures. With caste enumeration also included for the first time in post-independence India, the 2027 census will be a game-changer in every sense of the term.

The 2027 census will be India's first fully digital census, facilitated through a specially designed mobile application. Around 30 lakh enumerators, including many government school teachers, will be retrained to use this platform. A self-enumeration option is expected to be offered to households that have already updated their details under the National Population Register (NPR). This could make the exercise more efficient, timely, and accessible, provided data privacy and transparency safeguards are enforced.

The digital shift also has the potential to reduce errors, eliminate duplications, and hasten data compilation. In a country of over 140 crore people, any tool that enhances precision and scale without compromising inclusivity is welcome. However,........

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