The Union Home Ministry has officially announced the timeline for the initial phase of Census 2027, marking the start of India's first-ever digital national population count. The housing listing and houselisting operations are scheduled to be conducted over a 30-day period, which each state and Union Territory will specify between April 1 and September 30, 2024.
A Historic Shift to Digital Enumeration
In a significant move, the government notification, issued under the Census Act, 1948, introduces an option for self-enumeration for citizens. This facility will be available for a 15-day window just before the commencement of the 30-day house-to-house survey by enumerators. This formally kickstarts the massive decennial exercise, which was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, pushing back what was originally Census 2021.
The entire Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases. The first phase involves houselisting and housing census, while the second is the population enumeration. The operations are slated to occur between April 1, 2026, and February 28, 2027. The critical reference date for the population count has been fixed at 00:00 hours on March 1, 2027, with exceptions for Ladakh and certain snow-bound areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Massive Scale and Advanced Technology
Approximately 30 lakh (3 million) field functionaries will be deployed for what is the world's largest administrative and statistical exercise. In a landmark shift, Census 2027 will be India's first digital census. Data collection will happen through a dedicated mobile application, with a central Census Management & Monitoring System (CMMS) portal enabling real-time monitoring. The government has assured that robust security features are in place for this digital transition.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had earlier approved the proposal for Census 2027 in December 2023, allocating a budget of Rs 11,718.2 crore. A key feature of the upcoming census is that the population enumeration phase will capture caste identity data.
Streamlined Data for Policy Making
The government aims to revolutionize data dissemination through this census. Officials have stated that information will be made available in a user-friendly manner, ensuring that queries for policymaking are accessible at the click of a button. The concept of Census-as-a-Service (CaaS) will deliver clean, machine-readable, and actionable data directly to various ministries.
The process remains thorough, with enumerators—often government teachers appointed by state governments—visiting every household to canvass separate questionnaires for both phases. However, the new 15-day self-enumeration window via the Census app or portal offers citizens a convenient first step before the official field visit begins in their region.
This notification supersedes the earlier one dated January 7, 2020, formally setting in motion the intricate preparations for a census that promises greater accuracy, efficiency, and technological integration than ever before.
