VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh is set to launch the Digital Census 2027, with the first phase of house listing and housing census (HLO) beginning on April 16.
State Census Director J Nivas announced that this edition will be conducted entirely in digital mode, with citizens given the option of self-enumeration through a secure portal. Participants can log in with their mobile number, geo-tag their household, and submit details, generating a unique Self Enumeration ID (SE ID) for verification during field checks.
The census, mandated under the 1948 Census Act and 1990 Rules, will be conducted in two phases. The first phase will collect information on housing conditions and assets, while the second phase will focus on population enumeration, covering demographic, economic, migration, and caste data.
In AP, the exercise will span 28 districts, 669 mandals, 83 statutory towns, 228 census towns, and nearly 16,862 villages. The reference date for Census 2027 is March 1, 2027, while in snow-bound regions such as Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, it will be October 1.
Self-enumeration will be available from April 16 to 30, 2026, on https://se.census.gov.in. Citizens can log in, geo-tag their household, and submit details. House listing will then continue from May 1 to 30. The questionnaire includes 33 items covering building materials, household usage, family details, SC/ST status, amenities such as drinking water, electricity, toilets, cooking fuel, and assets.
Extensive preparations have been made, with administrative units finalised by January 2026 and pre-tests conducted in select districts in November 2025. Training has been completed for over 1.1 lakh enumerators and supervisors, supported by national, master, and field trainers. More than 2,200 training batches have been conducted across the state.
The census will be conducted using Android and iOS mobile apps in 16 languages, with offline functionality and in-built validation checks to ensure accuracy. End-to-end security measures, certified data centres, and regular audits have been put in place to safeguard information.
The census will be conducted in languages including Telugu, Hindi, English, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Assamese, Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali. Officials emphasised that Census 2027 will be a technology-driven, secure, and participatory exercise, urging citizens to cooperate either through self-enumeration or by assisting field staff. The census is expected to provide comprehensive data for governance across AP.