Constitutional and Statutory Basis of the Census
Conducting a population census is a Union subject under Entry 69 of the Union List (Seventh Schedule), which Parliament legislates on using its exclusive power under Article 246(1). The operational law is the Census Act, 1948, which authorises the Union government (through the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, under the Ministry of Home Affairs) to conduct the decennial census and makes furnishing of information to census officials compulsory, while individual data on named persons is kept confidential under Section 15 of the Act.
- Census is Entry 69, Union List, Seventh Schedule; Article 246(1) gives Parliament exclusive power to legislate on Union List subjects
- Census Act, 1948 is the governing statute; census-taking is administered by the Registrar General of India (Ministry of Home Affairs)
- India's census has been conducted decennially since 1881 (uninterrupted since 1881); Census 2021 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making Census 2027 the 16th Census of independent India (post-1951 series) and the first to be conducted digitally
- Individual-level responses are confidential and cannot be used as evidence in any proceeding, under Section 15 of the Census Act, 1948
● Tracked since July 22, 2026 · last seen August 15, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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