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NEW DELHI: After a six-year delay, India is set to count its population in the 2027 census, the government said on Monday, as it prepares to also record caste data for the first time in nearly a century.

One of the world’s largest administrative undertakings, India’s population census was originally scheduled for 2021, but has faced multiple delays — mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a gazette notification, declaring that the census “shall be taken during the year 2027.”

The ministry did not specify when the process of counting India’s population — currently estimated at nearly 1.46 billion — would begin, but the process of house listing and enumeration is set to be complete before March 1, 2027, for most of the country, and by Oct. 1, 2026, for snow-bound and remote regions such as Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

The last census was conducted in 2011 and provided critical data for planning welfare schemes, allocating federal funds, and drawing electoral boundaries.

In 2027, for the first time since 1931 — when India was still under British colonial rule — caste details will be collected as well.

India’s caste system, which is rooted in Hindu scriptures, historically divided the population into a hierarchy that dictated people’s occupations, living areas, and marriage prospects based on their family of birth. While originally a Hindu practice, many non-Hindu communities in India also identify with certain castes today.

For centuries, those in the lowest ranks of the hierarchy have faced marginalization and social restrictions.

After gaining independence from Britain in 1947, India banned caste-based discrimination and created specific caste categories for affirmative action policies.

“Once you count the number of people of various castes, it is going to lead to a political empowerment because of those people who are underrepresented in politics, in elections, in jobs, in the private sector,” Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, political commentator and Narendra Modi’s biographer, told Arab News.

“India’s policy of reservations — which is otherwise known as positive discrimination in other countries like the US — is going to become more widespread and more systemic, and thereby it is going to lead to some amount of friction between various castes.”

India has specific caste categories for affirmative action policies, reserving up to 50 percent of government jobs and educational seats for marginalized groups. The census containing caste details may lead to altering the rate, as the number of lower caste Indians is much higher.

“We hope that they will be getting better representation. And other political parties will also have to give due weightage to people from these castes, which are not represented. So even in politics, you’ll have tickets being distributed to people from other castes,” Mukhopadhyay said.

“This is going to be the next wave of political empowerment of the existing underprivileged and underrepresented castes and communities.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government announced in April that counting castes in the upcoming census will “ensure that our social fabric does not come under political pressure” and “that society becomes stronger economically and socially.”

But the idea to include it came from the opposition, which for the past six years has been demanding that caste details be included in the census. The most vocal advocate of it has been Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress Party and Modi’s key rival.

The census is likely to provide information that will not only inspire social change but may also impact the political scene, which has been dominated by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party since 2014.

“If there is one thing that can really counter communalism and majoritarian politics it is the caste. Rahul Gandhi picked up the caste census issue quite late, but he made it a point by raising the issue,” said Ambarish Kumar, political analyst and host of a news analysis show.

“If you look at any field, the small demography of upper castes dominates almost every field … The caste census is an attempt to address this grave anomaly. The caste census will bring the marginal communities into the focus of the government policies which are not there.”

LONDON: Britons in Tel Aviv have recounted the “frightening” ordeal of sheltering from missile attacks after Israel faced days of deadly Iranian salvos.

, three Brits stranded in the country demanded that the UK government organize urgent repatriation flights.

On Monday, the British government said it was setting up a “Register Your Presence Portal” for British nationals in Israel.

According to the BBC, British officials want a clearer picture of who is in the region and who may need assistance. They have urged people to sign up to it once it is up and running, which is expected to be on Monday.

Zach Margolin, a 31-year-old online comedian, said on Sunday: “It’s really frightening. We could hear enormous explosions; we could hear the Iron Dome flying up and then the building shaking. Last night was the most I’ve seen, it’s proper explosions.”

He had flown to the Israeli capital on June 4 for his birthday and to produce content for social media.

But after Israel’s June 13 attack on Iran and Tehran’s subsequent retaliation, Margolin is now one of thousands of Brits stranded in the country.

He had booked three flights on June 18, 19 and 20 to give him the best chance of returning home.

On the first night of Iran’s retaliation on Friday, he fled his apartment for safety at 10 p.m., 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. after hearing air raid sirens.

Tehran’s missile forces had launched more than 100 ballistic missiles and drones at the Israeli capital in response to the Israel Defense Forces’ “Operation Rising Lion.”

Margolin said: “You’d be crazy not to be afraid. I’ve been to Israel many times during sirens, and the usual protocol is you go in the shelter, wait 10 minutes and then go out, but this is a different beast.

“It’s not one missile from Yemen or rockets from Gaza, it’s hundreds of ballistic missiles coming from Iran.”

Iran’s retaliatory salvos killed at least 13 people in the first two nights of strikes.

Israel closed its airspace in response, as well as land routes out of the country.

“Ideally the UK government should be putting on a repatriation flight,” Margolin said. “The only update (from the Foreign Office) is don’t go to Israel.”

The Foreign Office later warned that the situation could “deteriorate further, quickly and without warning,” and advised against all travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, placing the two on the same level of advice as Iran.

James Eden, a 72-year-old retired accountant, had flown to Israel last week for a Christian pilgrimage.

He told The Times that he was considering escaping the country via bus through the Negev desert, in an attempt to reach Egypt.

“The (Foreign Office) rang me and said there wasn’t a lot they could do,” he added.

“They’re not going to stop me (leaving by land) — but they’re not going to help me get out of Egypt either.”

Posts on social media platforms have advertised opportunities to reach the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh from Israel, in order for Britons to catch safe flights home.

British father-of-two Max Radford, 52, feared that his time in Israel would be “indefinite” as he urged the UK government to move repatriation aircraft to its bases on Cyprus, to prepare for quick evacuation flights from Tel Aviv.

“There is absolutely no question that the British government should be putting on repatriation flights,” he said. “They should know that there are thousands of Brits here that are stranded. They need to do something. There is no airline that can do it.”

Radford added: “I had a very nearby explosion the night before last when I was in Tel Aviv. “You never know what comes next; we’ve no idea about tonight and we really don’t know how long we’re here for. It’s kind of indefinite.”

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy told British nationals in Israel that their safety “remains our top priority.”

He said: “My message to British nationals there is clear: your safety remains our top priority. Follow our travel advice for the latest updates.”