More than 5.72 lakh households have used the self-enumeration facility in the first phase of Census 2027, signalling robust early adoption of the government’s digital push, the Registrar General of India (RGI) said on Friday.
The RGI noted that the response underlines growing public participation in the online Census initiative. "By choosing to provide their details online, these families have embraced a faster, smarter and a more convenient way to contribute to nation-building," the RGI said in a post on X.
The self-enumeration option is currently available in states and Union territories where the physical Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO) is set to begin from April 16.
Census 2027 commenced on April 1 across eight states and Union territories, including areas under the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi Cantonment, marking the introduction of a 15-day self-enumeration window for the first time in the exercise’s history.
A dedicated portal has been rolled out for residents of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Karnataka, Sikkim, Odisha, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, and select areas of the national capital. Through this platform, citizens can fill in their details and respond to the prescribed questionnaire.
Upon completion, respondents generate a unique ID, which must be shared with enumerators during their physical visit for verification as part of the HLO process.
Census 2027 — the eighth since Independence — is being conducted in two phases: the HLO Census and the Population Census. The HLO phase will create a comprehensive listing of all structures, houses, and households nationwide, forming the basis for the subsequent population count.
In another first, the entire exercise will be conducted digitally, with enumerators using a dedicated mobile application to capture data.
During the housing listing phase, officials will visit each household and ask 33 questions covering basic amenities, details of the head of the household, including name and sex, and ownership status, among other parameters.
The second phase, the Population Census, is scheduled to begin next year.
