House-to-house population enumeration for Census 2027 has begun in identified snow-bound and inaccessible areas of Jammu and Kashmir, with the formal launch taking place in the Dudu and Basantgarh subdivisions of Udhampur district.
The special schedule covers areas where winter conditions make it difficult to conduct fieldwork alongside the rest of the country. Population enumeration in these parts of Jammu and Kashmir will continue from September 1 to 30, followed by a revisional round from October 1 to 5.
The reference time for the population count in the covered areas is midnight at the start of October 1, 2026. The same early timetable applies to the Union Territory of Ladakh and designated snow-bound areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Population enumeration across most of India is scheduled for February 2027, with March 1, 2027 as the general reference date.
Amit Sharma, Chief Principal Census Officer and Director of Census Operations for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, visited Dudu and Basantgarh to commence the exercise and review field preparedness. Officials responsible for district administration, policing, statistics and local census charges were asked to coordinate security and logistics for enumerators working in remote locations.
Residents of the covered areas were given an option to submit their particulars digitally during a self-enumeration window from August 17 to 31. The door-to-door phase now enables enumerators to reach households that did not use the online facility and to complete the official population record.
Census 2027 is being conducted in two broad phases. The first covers houselisting and the housing census, while the second records individual population particulars. The population phase is designed to collect demographic, socio-economic, educational, migration and fertility information. Caste-related information is also to be included in the second phase.
This census is the first in India to deploy digital data collection on a nationwide scale. Mobile applications, a Census Management and Monitoring System and an online self-enumeration portal have been developed for the exercise. Digital tools are intended to support field monitoring and faster processing, while trained enumerators remain central to reaching households and verifying coverage.
The Union government had earlier said the first phase had been completed in 31 states and Union Territories, with work in the remaining regions scheduled for completion during September. It also reported releasing ₹4,102 crore to states and Union Territories for training, manpower support, technical infrastructure and honoraria for census personnel.
The early count in Jammu and Kashmir is not a separate census. It is the non-synchronous part of the national exercise, advanced to account for geography and seasonal access. Dudu-Basantgarh was selected for the formal start because it represents the logistical conditions that the special timetable is meant to address.
Field teams will work through September before the short revisional round checks births, deaths and other changes relevant to the reference date. Completion of the exercise will provide the updated population base required for planning public services, welfare delivery and infrastructure in the covered mountain communities.
