Census from 2025, LS seats delimitation by '28

New Delhi : The government is expected to begin the next census, an official survey of the country's population, in 2025 after a four-year-long delay, sources said on Monday. The process will commence in 2025 and is expected to continue until 2026.

Following the Census, the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats will commence, and this exercise is likely to be completed by 2028, the sources added.

This development comes amid demands from several opposition parties for a caste census. However, the government has not yet made a decision, and the details of the census process are yet to be made public. However, sources indicate that next year's census may also include surveys of sub-sects within the General and SC-ST categories, in addition to the usual categorisation by religion and social class, as well as counts of General, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes.

Following reports about the census, discussion on a caste census has resumed. Leaders from various opposition parties, including Congress, have called on the government to conduct a nationwide caste census. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh urged the Centre to convene an all-party meeting to clarify matters related to the caste census and Lok Sabha delimitation.

Ramesh said, "There is still absolutely no clarity on two crucial issues: Will this new Census include a detailed enumeration of all castes in the country?" and "Will this Census be used for determining the strength of each state in the Lok Sabha," which might disadvantage "states that have been pioneers in family planning?"

Congress leader Manickam Tagore, said that the central government's refusal to conduct a caste census constitutes a betrayal of OBC communities.

Partners of the BJP-led NDA have also renewed their support for a caste census. The JDU stated that it favours a caste census if the government conducts it next year.