India is set to undertake its first fully digital population census, with the initial phase of Census 2027 beginning from April 1, 2026, Registrar General and Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan said on Monday.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Narayan said the upcoming census -India’s 16th since inception and eighth after Independence – will be the world’s largest enumeration exercise, involving over 3 million enumerators, supervisors and officials across the country.
First Digital Census with Self-Enumeration Option
For the first time, the census will be conducted digitally, with enumerators collecting data through mobile applications. In another first, citizens will also be able to self-enumerate using a secure online portal available in 16 languages.
Self-enumeration will allow households to fill in their details online and generate a unique Self-Enumeration ID, which will be verified during the enumerator’s visit. Officials said robust measures have been put in place to ensure data security.
For self-enumeration, respondents can log into the SE portal using their mobile number and other basic details, and complete the Census schedule at their convenience. Upon successful submission, a unique Self-Enumeration ID (SE ID) will be generated which is to be shared with the enumerator during the field visit. Self-Enumeration option provides flexibility to fill the information at one’s own convenience before the enumerator’s visit. While enumerators will continue to make house to house enumeration in their allocated blocks as in the previous Censuses, Self-enumeration is an additional facility given this time to respondents.
(Access SE Portal (se.census.gov.in) → Login using Mobile Number → Identify location on map→ Fill Household Details → Submit Information → Receive SE ID → Provide SE ID to Enumerator → Data confirmed & Included in Census)
The census will be conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990. The reference date for the exercise will be March 1, 2027, while snow-bound regions such as Ladakh and parts of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will have October 1, 2026 as the reference date.
Two-Phase Census Exercise
The census will be carried out in two phases:
Phase I (House Listing and Housing Census): April–September 2026
This phase will collect data on housing conditions, amenities and household assets.
Phase II (Population Enumeration): February 2027
This phase will gather demographic, socio-economic and educational data. Enumeration of castes will also be undertaken during this phase.
State-wise Timeline for Phase I
The first phase will be conducted in staggered timelines across states and Union Territories.
Each state will have a 15-day self-enumeration window immediately preceding the house-listing phase.
States namely Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi (New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board), Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Sikkim will do the Houselisting and Housing Census during April 16 to May 15, along with period of 15 self-enumeration from April 1 to April 15.
Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana will start Houselisting Census from May 1 to May 30 with period of self-enumeration from April 16 to April 30.
Massive Scale and Digital Infrastructure
The government has approved an outlay of ₹11,718.24 crore for the census. The exercise will cover 36 States and Union Territories, over 7,000 sub-districts, 5,128 statutory towns, 4,580 census towns and nearly 6.4 lakh villages.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said a dedicated digital ecosystem has been developed, including mobile applications, self-enumeration portals, and real-time monitoring dashboards. Houselisting blocks will be created using web-based mapping tools.
Elaborate arrangement for training of Census functionaries has been made. 100 National Trainers have been trained by subject matter experts who have trained about 2,000 Master Trainers. These Master Trainers are training about 45,000 Field Trainers who in turn will train about 31 lakh Enumerators and Supervisors in about 80,000 batches. All possible training materials have been prepared in regional languages so as to ensure that our last mile foot soldiers, the Enumerators and Supervisors do not face difficulty in collecting quality data in a timely manner.
Pre-Test Completed
A nationwide pre-test covering around 5,000 census blocks was conducted in November 2025 to validate the methodology, digital tools and training systems.
With enhanced digital capabilities and wider citizen participation, Census 2027 is expected to provide more accurate, timely and comprehensive data to support policy-making and development planning across the country.
