On 1 April 2026, the Union Home Ministry officially rolled out the 16th census of India. The first fully digital census was approved by the Union Cabinet in December 2025 and will consist of house listing operations from 1 April to 20 September 2026, followed by population enumeration starting on 1 March 2027. It includes nationwide caste enumeration—the first since 1931—alongside data on religion, gender, occupation, amenities, and inequality markers.
With the census having been delayed since 2011, experts like Poonam Muttreja of the Population Foundation of India emphasize the importance capturing current minorities’ realities, while sociologists like Trina Vithayathil highlighted its role in mapping caste-gender-religion intersections for policymaking, affirmative action, and tackling structural inequalities. While historic resistance to caste counts stemmed from “castelessness” ideology post-Independence, recent debates on social justice, reservation, and inequality (e.g., urban migrants overlooked in policies) prompted the 2027 inclusion.
The census opens space for civil society to engage meaningfully in advocacy and capacity‑building. Civil society can use the disaggregated data on caste, gender, religion, and occupation to push for stronger affirmative action, reservations, and welfare schemes, while also highlighting gaps such as the exclusion of urban migrants or marginalized groups. By monitoring census execution, CSOs can reinforce transparency and accountability, ensuring that the process is not undermined by bureaucratic deflection. At the same time, they can build capacity among grassroots organizations to interpret census data, run awareness campaigns to encourage participation, and strengthen digital literacy so communities are not excluded from the digital rollout.