Complete Training Of All Stakeholders For Census 2027 Before 3rd Week Of March: RGI Tells States, UTs
Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, namely Houselisting and Housing Census from April to September 2026 and Population Enumeration from February 2027.
Published : March 2, 2026 at 5:48 PM IST
By Gautam Debroy
New Delhi: The Registrar General of India (RGI) has asked the states and Union Territories to complete training of all concerned stakeholders, including master trainer, field trainer as well as enumerators and supervisors, for Census 2027, before the third week of March with the Houselisting and Housing Census slated to start from April 2026.
The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan in his communication with chief secretaries of all states and UTs also said that as many as 19 States and UTs as well as districts created after 2011 will get new location code during the Census 2027.
Location Code is a unique number by which every area in any administrative unit in the states and UTs can be identified. It is one of the important steps in conducting the Census. For state and UT created after 2011, the parent state from where new state and UT has been carved out due to addition and deletion of area will retain the same short code as of 2011 and the newly created state and UT will get the next incremental code.
The RGI said that Census of India 2027 marks a historic milestone as the world’ largest administrative and statistical exercise and is expected to cover over 140 crore population.
“This round of Census introduces groundbreaking innovations leveraging mobile applications for data collection, self-enumeration, Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) and Houselisting Block Creation (HLBC) web portals and real-time data transmission, along with online monitoring of field activities,” Narayan in his communication to the State and UTs said.
The Census 2027 would be conducted in two phases, namely (i) Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO) - April to September 2026 and (ii) Population Enumeration (PE) - February, 2027 (For the UT of Ladakh and snow bound non-synchronous areas of UT of Jammu & Kashmir and states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand shall be conducted in September, 2026).
Phase I of Census 2027
According to the RGI, the phase I of Census 2027, HLO, forms the foundation of the Census. Around 32 lakh functionaries (including reserves) will be engaged in this task of national importance. Since data quality hinges on a clear and uniform understanding of Census concepts and questions, effective training of field functionaries acts as a cornerstone for a successful Census.
“Standardised training ensures consistent application of concepts across the country and equips field staff to handle sensitive questions with professionalism, thereby building public trust,” the RGI said.
Narayan said that officers from other RGI and external experts will serve as the primary source of knowledge on all Census related concepts, procedures, and digital tools. They are responsible for developing the training curriculum at all levels and training the national trainers.
As per plan, 100 NTs need to train around 2,000 Master Trainers (MTs) and these MTs will train around 44,000 Field Trainers (FTs), who subsequently train around 31 lakh Enumerators and Supervisors (E&S).
“The HLO is to be completed by each State and UT in a period of 30 days, between April and September 2026. Thus, different states and UTs will require training for MTs, FTs and E&S to be conducted at different times,” the RGI said.
The training will start from the second week of February with the state and division level officers followed by principal Census officers and complete by the third week of March.
Phase II of Census 2027
The second phase of the census, PE, will start from February 2027. However, for the UT of Ladakh and snow bound non-synchronous areas of UT of Jammu & Kashmir and states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, PE shall be conducted in September, 2026.
Significantly, the second phase of the Census 2027 will also include caste enumeration.
“In the second phase, the demographic, socio- economic, cultural, and other details of every person will be collected,” Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai has informed in the Parliament recently.
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