The Centre has advanced the population enumeration phase of Census 2027 in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa due to the Assembly elections.The exercise will be held in these states between December 1, 2026, and January 4, 2027.In the rest of the country, the population enumeration, which is the second phase of Census, will be held as per the originally announced schedule by the Registrar General of India (RGI) in February 2027.According to a notification issued by the RGI, the option for self-enumeration will be available for these four states between November 16 and November 30, 2026, just before the commencement of the population count.There will be a revisional round from January 5, 2027, to January 9, 2027, the notification further said.The Assembly elections in all these four states are scheduled to be held between February and March 2027, thus necessitating the advancing of the second phase of the Census there.The first phase of the Census, which includes houselisting, has been completed in these four states.”The conduct of the Census of the population shall be undertaken in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and areas other than snow-bound areas of Uttarakhand, from December 1, 2026, to January 4, 2027, with a revisional round from January 5, 2027, to January 9, 2027,” the notification said.The reference date for the Census in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and areas other than snow-bound areas of Uttarakhand shall be 00.00 hours of January 5, 2027, it further said.