A major turn in the administrative history of the country has lately been made when the Union Budget has set aside ₹6,000 crores towards the coming population census. This huge financial injection is a new era for the exercise, which traditionally is a decennial count, yet has had to endure a long delay of more than five years.
This expenditure is notably impressive compared to the amounts allocated to it in the past, since it indicates almost a six-fold hike from the budgeted ₹1,040 crore allocated in the revised estimates of the 2025-26 period. This is an exclusive allocation to the office of Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India to ascertain that the infrastructure is sound enough to cope with the massive size of the project.
Key feature of the digital leap
This new census exercise is a significant paradigm shift in the way India gathers its most crucial national statistics and leaves traditional paper-pencil exercises behind, and shifts towards an entirely digital framework. With the massive budget, the census will make use of sophisticated mobile applications to simplify data collection and provide a higher level of accuracy.
The major aspect of this digital jump is the self-enumeration, which provides citizens with the ability to self-enlist information via digital means. This program is in line with the overall trends in the fast-growing digital transformation market in the country, which is a testimony to the high priority of the government in the construction of digital public infrastructure as well as in the development of advanced skilling in the country.
Strategic timeline and goal of this inclusion
The population census is now to be planned to open officially on April 1, 2026, and will be conducted in two phases. The initial step, which includes the house-listing and housing census, will take place up to September 30, 2026. The second step, which will be focused on the population enumeration, will occur in February 2027.
This timeline will enable an extensive collection of demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural populations in the country. In addition to the core census activities, the budget also covers the National Population Register (NPR) so that the government can have access to integrated and updated data to govern and plan its policies in the next few years.
One of the most innovative aspects of this next census is that caste enumeration will be included; it will be the first time such information will be recorded in this particular form. This inclusion is aimed at offering a more detailed and finer picture of the heterogeneous population of the country.
Although the specific methodology of this particular endeavour is yet to be fully developed, the idea is to record an in-depth socioeconomic picture of different groups. The census will attempt to offer a more objective base of information that represents the cultural intricacies of the Indian population, as the traditional demographic questions are coupled with these more precise social metrics.
Conclusion
The allocation of ₹6,000 crore to the census in India is an indication of a clear step towards a more efficient and technologically advanced system of keeping national records. The government is also ensuring that the information gathered is timely and accurate by dealing with the long-term delays and adopting a fully digital strategy.
This investment will not only support the short-term logistical demands of the 2026-2027 census but also create a digital infrastructure that will support the future planning and development objectives of the nation over a decade. The shift towards mobile apps and self-enumeration is an indicator of a new India that is willing to use technology to support all-around national development.
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