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Ladakh to lead caste enumeration as Census 2027 enters next phase from August 17

hellohimachalse@gmail.com 10 Aug 2026 59 min ago

New Delhi: Ladakh is set to become the first part of India to undertake caste enumeration under Census 2027, with the population enumeration exercise scheduled to begin there and in other snow-bound regions from August 17.

The exercise will be significant as India prepares to collect caste-wise data for the first time in a nationwide census since 1931. Census 2027 will include an open-ended column allowing respondents to state their caste, rather than choosing from a fixed list.

The first phase of the census, covering house listing and housing-related information, has already been conducted across different parts of the country. The second phase will collect individual-level demographic and socio-economic information, including caste.

Why Ladakh is starting before the rest of India

The population enumeration phase will begin earlier in Ladakh and other snow-bound areas because of their difficult winter conditions. Besides Ladakh, the exercise will cover snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand ahead of the main population enumeration in the rest of India.

According to the schedule reported for Ladakh, residents will be able to provide their information through self-enumeration from August 17 to August 31, followed by house-to-house visits during September.

Ladakh will also follow special procedures in sensitive areas. Because of its proximity to India’s international borders and the presence of defence establishments, paper forms will be used for data collection in certain areas instead of the digital systems being adopted elsewhere.

This will be the first Census exercise conducted in Ladakh since it became a separate Union Territory in 2019. 

India’s first census with caste data since 1931

Caste enumeration is among the biggest changes in Census 2027. The Union government decided in April 2025 to include caste-wise enumeration in the main census rather than conduct it as a separate exercise.

The 2011 Census collected and published data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but comprehensive caste data for all communities was not included in the published census results. The last nationwide census to systematically collect detailed caste information was conducted in 1931.

Census 2027 will also be India’s first fully digital census, with enumerators using mobile applications and citizens being given the option of self-enumeration. The government has said the digital system will include validation checks and secure data transmission.

For most of India, the population enumeration phase is scheduled around February-March 2027, with the reference date set at midnight on March 1, 2027. For Ladakh and the other notified snow-bound areas, the reference date is October 1, 2026.

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