Census-2027 preparations in advanced stage; houselisting phase to begin in April: RGI

New Delhi: The Registrar General of India (RGI) announced on Monday that preparations for the upcoming Census are at an advanced stage, with fieldwork for the first phase — Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO) — set to begin in multiple states from April.

Addressing a press conference at the National Media Centre in New Delhi, Registrar General and Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan said that Census-2027 will be conducted in two phases — House Listing (HLO) and Population Enumeration (PE) — with March 1, 2027, fixed as the reference date.

For snow-bound regions such as Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date has been fixed as October 1, 2026.

He explained the significance of the reference date, stating that it acts as a “snapshot” in time, enabling the collection of uniform and reliable demographic and socio-economic data across the country.

“The Census Reference Day is crucial because it acts as a ‘snapshot’ in time, providing a uniform point of reference to capture accurate demographic and socio-economic data across a vast and diverse population, ensuring data consistency and validity,” Narayan said.

Highlighting legal safeguards, Narayan said, “The Census Act includes an important provision, Section 15, stating that personal information supplied is considered strictly confidential. It cannot be disclosed under the RTI Act, used as evidence in court, or shared with any other organisations.”

He added that the role of states and union territories is central to the exercise.

“States and union territories play an essential role in this endeavour; their entire administrative system is engaged to carry out the fieldwork at the grassroots level. The last Census was carried out in 2011,” he said.

The Census Commissioner detailed that the process will comprise two phases — HLO and PE.

“The preparations for the Census are now at an advanced level, and in just a few days, the fieldwork for the initial phase — Houselisting and Housing Census — is about to begin in multiple states,” he said.

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.

This phase is scheduled to be conducted between April and September 2026.

Narayan stated that the adoption of a digital system will allow citizens to self-enumerate by directly entering their details, reducing dependence on enumerators and making the process more efficient.

He noted that this self-enumeration window will be available for a 15-day period prior to the 30-day houselisting operations.

Providing a timeline, he stated that 11 states and union territories will undertake the HLO process in April 2026, nine will conduct it in May, three in June, two in July, and two in August.

The second phase, Population Enumeration, will focus on collecting individual-level data, including age, gender, occupation, literacy, and caste details.

Narayan also informed that the Union Cabinet had approved a total outlay of Rs 11,718.24 crore for the Census in December 2025. Administrative boundaries were frozen as of January 1, 2026, and a pre-test of the first phase was conducted across all states and union territories in November last year.

He said that more than 80,000 training batches of enumerators have been formed across the country for both phases of the Census.

Emphasising data protection, Narayan said that robust mechanisms have been put in place to ensure end-to-end security during the entire process, adding that the data centres involved have been designated as Critical Information Infrastructure.