Census 2027: First Phase Almost Done, Over 32 Crore Families Recorded

(MENAFN- AsiaNet News)

New Delhi [India], September 27 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the first phase of the nationwide Census 2027 has almost been completed across all states and Union Territories, with information on more than 32 crore families recorded so far, and described the census as a "national responsibility".

PM Modi Urges Public Participation

Addressing the 138th episode of his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', PM Modi highlighted the progress of the census exercise and urged citizens to participate in the process, stressing the importance of the exercise for the country. The Prime Minister noted that the census exercise in Uttarakhand began from Mana village in Chamoli district, which is known as the country's first village.

"The first phase of the census has almost been completed in all states and union territories of the country. Information of more than 32 crore families has been recorded. The census is a national responsibility for all of us. The census in Uttarakhand began from Mana village in Chamoli. Mana is known as the country's first village,” PM Modi said. Emphasising the importance of public participation in the exercise, the Prime Minister urged citizens to make time for the census and contribute to the compilation of information. PM Modi added,“The census is a national responsibility for all of us. I had also urged the countrymen on August 15 to make sure to take out time for it..."

Digital Census and Phased Rollout

In Uttarakhand, the first phase of the census, the House-listing and Housing Census, was conducted across the entire state over 30 days, from April 25 to May 24, 2026. Prior to the door-to-door survey, a 15-day window from April 10 to April 24, 2026 was provided to the residents of the state for 'Self-Enumeration.' Approximately 30,000 enumerators and supervisors were appointed in Uttarakhand for the House-listing and Housing Census operations. They conducted door-to-door enumeration across approximately 32,000 house-listing blocks.

The census exercise in Uttarakhand officially commenced on April 10, 2026, with the 'Self-Enumeration' of Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmit Singh. Self-Enumeration is a secure, web-based facility available in 16 regional languages, including Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

Earlier in August, the 15-day self-enumeration process as part of house-to-house population enumeration under Phase-II of the Census 2027 started in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Census 2027 is India's first digital census, with data collection being carried out through digital tools and an optional self-enumeration facility.

Population enumeration in these non-synchronous areas is being conducted from September 1 to September 30, 2026, followed by a five-day revision round from October 1 to October 5. Population enumeration in other states and Union Territories is scheduled for February 2027. Phase II of the Census 2027 began in Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand almost three days after the MHA notified a set of 40 questions instructing officers within the limits of the local area who were respectively appointed to ask all persons residing within such limits.

Census Questionnaire Details

The questionnaire includes details such as the name of the person, relationship to the head of the household, sex, date of birth and age, current marital status, age at marriage, spouse's name, nationality, religion, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and caste details. It also covers the father's and mother's particulars, disability, mother tongue and other languages known, literacy and digital literacy status, attendance at educational institutions, highest educational qualification and stream or discipline.

Questions relating to employment include whether the person worked during the last year, category of economic activity, occupation, nature of industry, trade or service, class of worker, non-economic activity for marginal, semi-marginal and non-workers, seeking or availability for work, and travel to the place of work. The questionnaire also seeks information on place of birth, place of last residence, reason for migration, duration of stay in the village or town since the last migration and permanent residential address. For applicable categories, it includes questions on the number of surviving children, number of children ever born alive and number of children born alive during the last one year.

The set of questions also includes details on COVID-19 vaccination, total number of bank accounts and, if available, mobile number, Aadhaar number, voter ID number, passport number for Indian passport holders and availability of a driving licence.

Key Features and Logistics

Until the 2011 Census, the census exercise included systematic enumeration of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The decision to include caste enumeration in Census 2027 was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on April 30, 2025. Census 2027 is being conducted in two phases, with the first phase covering House-listing and Housing Census, followed by Population Enumeration.

The first phase, which started in April this year, has already been completed in 31 states and Union Territories, while the remaining states and UTs are scheduled to complete the exercise by September 2026. The first phase is conducted over a period of 30 days in each state and Union Territory, according to the convenience of the respective state and UT governments.

The Central government has approved an outlay of Rs 11,718.24 crore for Census 2027, with provisions for honorarium and training of census functionaries, IT infrastructure and logistics. Census 2027 will be conducted across 36 states and Union Territories, covering 7,092 sub-districts, 5,128 statutory towns, 4,580 Census towns and around 6,39,902 villages. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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