New Delhi, June 17 -- The Centre on Monday issued a notification for conducting the long-delayed 2027 Census, formally initiating the preparatory work for the world's largest population counting exercise after a gap of 16 years. Earlier this month, the government had said that the census will be carried out in two phases before March 1, 2027, announcing a crucial exercise that will enumerate caste for the first time since Independence and likely become the base for landmark processes such as delimitation and women's reservation. "The central government hereby declares that a census of the population of India shall be taken during the year 2027. The reference date for the said census shall be 00.00 hours of the 1st day of March, 2027, except for the Union Territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the UT of J&K and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand," said the notification issued by the Office of Registrar General of India or ORGI. "In respect of the UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date shall be 00:00 hours of the 1st day of October, 2026," it added. Customarily, once a gazette notification for the intent of conducting a census is issued, there are various preparatory areas on which detailed discussions take place, including with data users, training of enumerators, etc but officials familiar with the upcoming census said, "Most of these activities have already been completed since between 2021 and now." P9...