New Delhi [India], June 15 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday to review preparations for India’s upcoming 16th Census, scheduled to begin soon. The meeting was attended by Union Home Secretary, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI), and other senior officials.
In a post shared on X, Amit Shah announced that the official Gazette notification for conducting the Census will be issued on June 16, 2025. He also highlighted that this edition of the Census would mark a historic shift with the inclusion of caste enumeration for the first time.
“Reviewed the preparations for the 16th Census with senior officials. Tomorrow, the gazette notification of the census will be issued. The census will include caste enumeration for the first time,” Shah wrote.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the census will be carried out in two phases:
Phase 1: House Listing Operation (HLO) – Data related to housing conditions, assets, and amenities of households will be gathered.
Phase 2: Population Enumeration (PE) – Detailed demographic, socio-economic, cultural, and other personal data of individuals in each household will be collected.
In total, approximately 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors, along with 1.3 lakh Census functionaries, will be deployed across the country to carry out this massive operation.
This will be the 16th Census since the exercise began in India and the 8th since independence. Notably, the upcoming Census will also be the first to be conducted entirely through digital means. Data collection will be done using mobile applications, and for the first time, citizens will also have the option for self-enumeration.
To address privacy concerns, the government has assured that robust data security measures will be implemented throughout the process, including during the collection, transmission, and storage of data.
The upcoming Census is expected to provide an in-depth picture of India’s changing socio-economic landscape and aid in better policymaking for the years to come. (ANI)
About The Author
