Population Enumeration UPSC relevant
Population Enumeration (PE) is the second phase of the census, in which an enumerator canvasses the Household Schedule for every individual, covering name, age, sex, marital status, religion, SC/ST status and (in 2027) caste, education, language, disability, migration, economic activity and fertility.
For Census 2027, PE is scheduled for February 2027 for most of India, with the count related to the reference moment of 00:00 hrs on March 1, 2027. For the UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, PE is held earlier against a reference date of October 1, 2026; news reports say it began there in mid-August 2026, days after the 40 PE questions were notified on August 14, 2026.