Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) President Alok Kumar has said that “everyone should identify themselves as Hindus” in the upcoming census to “avoid division of society”. It was discussed during VHP’s Central Margdarshak Mandal meeting in Delhi on December 9, ThePrint reported.

‘Everyone should write their religion as Hindu’

“Everyone should write their religion as Hindu. There is a particular context to this appeal that everyone should identify as Hindu,” he told ThePrint, before explaining the rationale behind this appeal. 

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He, per the outlet, explained, “There is a campaign going on in certain sections of Hindu society, particularly Lingayats in Karnataka, Sarnas and sections of Jatavs and in general amongst the SCs and STs that they are not part of Hindu society and should not identify themselves as Hindus in the upcoming census exercise.”

“We want to tell them that this is an effort to divide society and we are Hindus and proud Hindus and we should identify as that,” he went on to say.

Census 2027

India’s Census 2027 will be carried out in two stages. The first stage, covering House Listing and the Housing Census, will be held sometime between April and September 2026. This exercise will run for 30 days, with each state free to choose the exact dates.

The second stage, the Population Enumeration (PE), is scheduled for February 2027.

The reference date for the Census is March 1, 2027, except for Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. For these regions, the reference date would be October 1, 2026. 

Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, responding to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha, said that the upcoming Census will be carried out using digital methods.

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“It has been decided to conduct Census 2027 through digital means. It is planned to collect data through Mobile Apps. Respondents may also self-enumerate through web portal. The Census process is to be managed and monitored through a dedicated portal,” he said in response to the question of whether any technological innovations have been proposed to conduct the upcoming Census.  

He added, “In the Census, information about every individual is collected at the place where they are found during the entire period of enumeration. Further, Migration data is collected for each and every individual based on their place of birth and place of last residence. The census also collects information on the duration of stay at the current residence and the reason for migration. Questionnaire for Census is notified before conducting field work by the Central Government through the Official Gazette.”