The census was put off due to the Covid-19 pandemic that disrupted all sectors across the globe, and its “aftershock”, the ministry of home affairs said on Thursday, a day after the Union government announced that the long-delayed exercise will be carried out in two phases before March 1 2027.

The ministry also sought to address concerns raised by Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin about Census-linked delimitation exercise, saying that home minister Amit Shah has clarified on many occasions that concerns of southern states will be addressed at an appropriate time.

The Census was supposed to be conducted in 2021 and all the preparations for the exercise were completed, a statement from the ministry said. “…however, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic across the country, the Census work was postponed. The aftershock of Covid-19 continued for quite some time,” it said, further explaining that countries which conducted Census immediately after Covid-19 faced issues on “quality and coverage” of data.

While the opposition has questioned the delay in the exercise, the MHA said that had that exercise been conducted in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, it would have adversely affected the education sector.

“COVID disrupted all sectors including education. Around 30 lakh enumerators are needed for Census. Enumerators, who are primary school teachers, are key persons for conducting Census. Conducting Census after Covid could have disrupted primary education immensely,” the statement by the ministry said.

The MHA added that the budget has never been a constraint for conducting the Census as allocation of funds is always ensured by the government.

India’s 16th Census with caste enumeration will be carried out in 2027 with the reference date of October 1, 2026, in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and of March 1, 2027, in the rest of the country.

It has been decided to conduct the Population Census-2027 in two phases, along with the enumeration of castes, the MHA announced on Wednesday.

Following the announcement, the Congress said there was no reason to delay the exercise for another 23 months. In a post on X, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said, “…The Modi Government is capable only of generating headlines, not meeting deadlines.”