Census 2027 Data Collection To Be Tracked In Real Time, 32 Lakh Officials To Use Handheld Devices In Fully Digital Enterprise
Marking a decisive break from paper-based enumeration, data collection and its tracking would happen digitally in Census 2027.
Published : February 26, 2026 at 9:39 AM IST
By Gautam Debroy
New Delhi: The Registrar General of India (RGI) has informed the States and UTs that a Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) has been developed to track population census 2027 activities on real-time basis.
“The ensuing Census 2027 will make extensive use of digital technology to enhance the quality, efficiency, and timeliness of data collection and dissemination. In the forthcoming Census, data will be collected through digital mode, marking a significant and transformative step towards the modernisation of the Census process,” RGI Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said in a circular addressed to Chief Secretaries of all states and Union Territories.
At least 32 lakh field functionaries will be deployed to carry out the task of data collection.
The digital format replaces traditional paper-based methods utilising handheld devices, geo-tagging, and a centralised web platform to manage the entire process. The CMMS system includes a web-based mapping application that allows for precise geo-tagging of Houselisting Blocks (HLBs) and Enumeration Blocks (EBs), reducing data overlaps and omissions.
Sources aware of the census operation told ETV Bharat that more than six lakh integrating geographic information system (GIS) maps (District/Subdistrict/Village level) have already been uploaded in the CMMS portal for precise data collection.
Minister of State for Home, Nityanand Rai earlier said in the Parliament that the Census 2027 will be conducted through digital means.
“Data will be collected through mobile Apps along with an online provision for self-enumeration. The entire process will be monitored through a web portal,” Rai said.
The Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases including Phase I – houselisting and housing census from April to September, 2026 in a period of 30 days as per the convenience of the State and UT governments followed by Phase II – population enumeration (PE).
An official said that the population enumeration will be done in February 2027 except for the Union territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where it will be done in September, 2026.
States, UTs Asked To Cooperate
Addressing a recent meeting of chief secretaries of states and UTs, state census nodal officers, senior officers from MHA, and directors of census operations, home secretary Govind Mohan sought cooperation to regularly monitor and review the census related activities in the states and UTs.
The home secretary highlighted the long and rich tradition of Census in India while emphasising the pivotal role of state and UT governments in the successful conduct of Census 2027.
He urged states and UTs to ensure timely appointment and training of Census functionaries, republishing of notifications, avoiding any jurisdictional changes up to March 31, 2027, effective use of digital tools including Self-Enumeration and a focused publicity and communication approach to build public awareness, trust and participation to achieve the full objectives of the Census 2027.
A cabinet statement said that to complete various tasks for successful conduct of Census 2027, approximately 18,600 technical manpower will be engaged for around 550 days at the local levels.
“In another word, around 1.02 crore man-days would be generated. Further, the provision of technical manpower at Charge/ District/ State level will also result in capacity building as the nature of job will be related to digital data handling, monitoring and coordination. This will also help in future employment prospects of these persons,” the statement stated.
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for conducting Census of India 2027 at a cost of Rs 11,718.24 crore.
Caste enumeration has also been included in the Census 2027. “With the huge social and demographic diversity in our country and related challenges, the Census 2027 will capture caste data electronically in second phase, i.e. Population Enumeration (PE),” a government note said.
About 30 lakh field functionaries including enumerators, supervisors, master trainers, charge officers and principal/ district census officers will be deployed for data collection, monitoring and supervision of census operations.
Sixteenth Census In India
Census 2027 will be 16th Census in the country and 8th after independence. Census is the biggest source of primary data at village, town and ward level providing micro level data on various parameters including housing condition; amenities & assets, demography, religion, SC & ST, language, literacy & education, economic activity, migration and fertility.
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, Census 2021 and other related field activities was earlier postponed by the Home Ministry.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Office of the Registrar General had taken a collaborative initiative for creating unified, error-free and up-to-date Jurisdictional directory in the country through local government directory (LGD) portal for the use of all the stakeholders.
Stating that the history of all the Censuses since 1981 has been compiled and published in the form of a book, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that Government of India will conduct the census electronically, in which every person will have the right to fill the data.
“Census is the process of charting the course of development of the country, for this it is necessary that the SRS upgraded mobile application along with geofencing should create an alert system so that the officials doing the census will not go out of the allotted area,” Shah has said.
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