NEW DELHI: Over 5.72 lakh households have already opted for self-enumeration under Census 2027, the exercise that began on April 1, signalling growing public participation in India’s first fully digital census exercise.
In a post on X, the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India noted that the milestone was achieved within just 10 days of the rollout, underscoring the early momentum behind the initiative.
Households choosing to submit their data online were described as adopting a “faster, smarter and more convenient” approach to contributing to the national census.
The self-enumeration facility is currently active as part of Phase I - the Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO) - in select states and Union Territories.
Authorities have urged eligible residents in these regions to make use of the official portal before enumerators begin door-to-door data collection.
Census 2027 will mark India’s 16th Census and the eighth since Independence.
Notably, it is the first time that citizens have been given the option of self-enumeration through a digital platform, reflecting a broader push towards technology-driven governance.
The mega exercise will be conducted in two phases. The phase-I, which focuses on housing listing and housing conditions, is scheduled to take place over 30 days across states and Union Territories between April and September 2026.
This phase is preceded by a 15-day self-enumeration window, allowing households to voluntarily submit their details online.
During Phase I, officials will collect data on the condition of houses, availability of amenities and assets owned by households.
The questionnaire for this phase was officially released in January 2026.
The phase II - Population Enumeration (PE) is scheduled for February 2027, in snow-bound and non-synchronous regions such as Ladakh and parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
This phase will gather detailed information on individuals, including demographic, socio-economic, educational and migration-related data, as well as fertility indicators.
In a significant policy decision, the government has also approved the inclusion of caste enumeration during the second phase, as cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs.
Detailed schedules and questionnaires for phase II will be announced at a later stage.
Several regions, including Andaman and Nicobar Islands, areas under the New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board, along with Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha and Sikkim, will conduct the houselisting exercise between April 16 and May 15, with self-enumeration open from April 1 to 15.
States such as Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana will follow, beginning houselisting from May 1 to May 30, preceded by a self-enumeration window from April 16 to 30.
The Union government has allocated Rs 11,718.24 crore for the Census 2027 exercise.