Census-2027 Begins Today: India Launches World’s Largest Digital Population Exercise with Self-Enumeration Option
India launches Census-2027, the world’s largest population exercise, with digital self-enumeration for the first time. Conducted in two phases, it includes house listing, population data, and caste enumeration, with a budget of ₹11,718 crore and strict data security measures.
For snow-bound regions such as Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date has been fixed as October 1, 2026, ensuring regional accessibility and operational feasibility. For the first time, the Census will be conducted digitally with the option of Self-Enumeration, to be held from today till 15th of this month. House Listing and Housing Census will begin from 16th April and will be carried until 15th May.
The HLO will involve listing all buildings and structures and collecting information on housing conditions, amenities, and assets. It will also include geo-tagging of buildings and assigning a unique identification number to each structure. Eleven states and Union Territories, including Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, Sikkim, NDMC area and Delhi Cantonment Board of the National Capital, will undertake the HLO process.
The second phase, which is Population Enumeration, will be conducted during February next year. Caste enumeration will be part of the second phase of the Census, reflecting a critical addition to the data collection framework. The Centre has approved an outlay of over 11 thousand 718 crore rupees for Census 2027, underlining the scale and significance of the exercise.
The Self-Enumeration exercise is a secure web-based facility
through which citizens will be able to directly enter their details online in 16 languages before the door-to-door survey. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan has assured that necessary measures for data security have been taken and urged citizens to provide accurate and correct information to surveyors.
As India embarks on this extensive and technologically advanced census operation, Census-2027 stands as a defining effort in shaping future policy planning, governance, and socio-economic development through precise and comprehensive population data.

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