New Delhi, June 4 -- The central government on Wednesday announced that the Population Census-2027 will be conducted in two phases and will also include the enumeration of castes. Opposition parties accused the government of further delaying the nationwide enumeration exercise.

The Ministry of Home Affairs made the announcement in a statement, mentioning that the census will follow different reference dates depending on the region, in accordance with logistical and climatic factors.

"It has been decided to conduct Population Census-2027 in two phases along with the enumeration of castes," the statement said.

Reacting to the announcement, Congress said that the government was further delaying the already late census. DMK alleged that th...