India will begin a national census next year after years of delays. The Ministry of Home Affairs announced that the census will take place in two phases and conclude by March 1, 2027.
Normally conducted every ten years, the census involves over 2.5 million researchers across India to assess living conditions in the world's most populous country. However, the last census was in 2011, creating a 16-year statistical gap.
"The census is more than just a population count. It's a report card on government performance," says Sanjukta Poddar, a researcher of Indian culture and history at Leiden University.
