Special Enumeration: Snow-Bound Areas, Homeless and Institutions

SNOW-BOUND AREAS (early enumeration): the UT of Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the UT of Jammu & Kashmir and the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand undergo Phase 2 (Population Enumeration) months before the rest of India, because these areas are inaccessible in February. Notified schedule (executed 2026): web self-enumeration August 17-31, 2026; door-to-door enumeration September 1-30, 2026; Census Moment 00:00 hours October 1, 2026; revisional round October 1-5, 2026 (Rising Kashmir on the J&K launch; ANI reported Phase II beginning August 17, 2026 with the self-enumeration window).

Scale in J&K: 95 administrative charges and 4,146 tentative enumeration blocks across snow-bound sectors — largest concentrations in Doda (15 charges), Kishtwar (12), Baramulla (12), Kupwara (10), Ramban (8) and Anantnag (8). Field staff use the 'Census 2027-PE' mobile app with CMMS monitoring; the enumeration 'covers normal, institutional and houseless households through a comprehensive digital questionnaire' capturing socio-demographic, economic, migration and fertility data, with 'special training modules' for Defence and Paramilitary establishments.

The rest of India follows in February 2027 against the 00:00 hrs March 1, 2027 reference moment. Civils Daily reports the early PE zone as Ladakh plus 16 J&K districts' snow-bound portions (confidence: the district count is secondary; the official formulation is 'UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of UT of Jammu and Kashmir and States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh' — PIB). INSTITUTIONAL HOUSEHOLDS (hostels, messes, hotels, jails, ashrams, old-age homes, orphanages, rescue/observation homes): enumerated only by the canvasser method — they are barred from the self-enumeration portal (official Goa FAQ).

Inmates are recorded as an institutional household sharing a common kitchen; special modules cover defence/paramilitary institutions. HOUSELESS HOUSEHOLDS (living on pavements, roadsides, in hume pipes, under flyovers/staircases, on railway platforms, in open places of worship): also excluded from self-enumeration; enumerated in the field during the PE round. In past censuses the houseless were counted on a single designated night at the end of the enumeration period to avoid double counting (2011: the night of February 28); for the 2027 main round the specific houseless-count night had not been notified as of 1 September 2026 (confidence: unconfirmed — mark as pending notification; the snow-bound round's houseless were covered within the September 1-30 door-to-door window per Rising Kashmir).

Also part of special coverage: the ascertainment of every census house's use in Phase 1 captures institutions in the frame (item 7), and the houselisting head-of-household questions apply to institutional households with a designated head/manager. NRIs/citizens abroad are not covered by self-enumeration (portal geo-restricted to India).