NEW DELHI: Ahead of the first phase of census exercise, set to begin on April 1, the Centre has released a set of 33 questions to be asked during the decadal counting process.
In a gazette notification, the Ministry of Home Affairs said census officers will collect information through the houselisting and housing census schedule.
With a caste census also part of the exercise, officials will ask whether the head of the household belongs to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other category.
The queries are also related to internet access, main fuel used for cooking, whether households have radio or transistor, television, laptop or computer, and also whether the mobile phone used in a household is a smartphone or has a normal telephone connection.
Other questions relate to the availability of bathing facilities, kitchen and LPG or PNG connections, as well as the main fuel used for cooking. Information on the main cereal consumed in the household will also be collected.
Details regarding housing conditions, including the predominant material used for the floor, walls and roof of the census house, along with the usage and condition of the house, will also be sought.
“The Central Government hereby instructs that all Census officers may, within the limits of the local areas for which they have been respectively appointed, ask all such questions from all persons on the items enumerated below for collecting information through the houselisting and housing census schedule in connection with the Census of India 2027,” the notification said.
Meanwhile, the Registrar General of India will hold a meeting with all Chief Secretaries today as part of the process for commencement of the nationwide exercise.
The delayed census will be held in two phases starting April 1, 2026. The first phase will involve houselisting, while the second phase, beginning from February 1, 2027, will focus on population enumeration.