New Delhi, Mar 5: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Thursday soft-launched four digital platforms and unveiled two mascots for Census 2027, marking a major step towards conducting India’s first fully digital population count.
Two-phase exercise
Phase 1: Data on housing conditions and household amenities will be collected. The government has notified that the houselisting exercise will be conducted between April 1 and September 30, 2026, during a 30-day period to be announced by each State and Union Territory. An optional 15-day self-enumeration window will precede the house-to-house survey.
Phase 2: The second phase will record demographic, social and economic details of every individual and will be conducted across India in February 2027. In this phase, a caste-related question will also be included.
However, in the Union Territory of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the enumeration will be carried out earlier in September 2026. The reference date for the census will be 00:00 hours of March 1, 2027, for most States and Union Territories, while for Ladakh and other snow-bound areas it will be 00:00 hours of October 1, 2026.
More than 30 lakh enumerators, supervisors and census officials are expected to be deployed across the country to ensure complete coverage. Officials said the adoption of digital technology would combine innovation with inclusivity, ensuring that Census 2027 remains accurate, secure and comprehensive.
The mascots, “Pragati”, representing a female enumerator, and “Vikas”, representing a male enumerator, were introduced in New Delhi as friendly public faces of the nationwide census exercise. Senior officials, including the Union Home Secretary and the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, were present at the event.
The advanced digital platforms developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) aim to streamline enumeration and monitoring processes across the country. The government had earlier notified its intent to conduct Census 2027 through a Gazette notification issued on June 16, 2025, formally initiating preparations for the world’s largest census exercise. For the first time, the census will be conducted digitally and will also allow citizens to submit information online through a Self-Enumeration facility.
The mascots “Pragati” and “Vikas” symbolise the equal participation of women and men in nation-building and the goal of making India a developed country by 2047. The government said the characters would help disseminate information about the census in a citizen-friendly manner and promote awareness across different sections of society.
Four digital tools introduced for Census 2027
Houselisting Block Creator (HLBC) Web Application: A web-based mapping system that enables officials to digitally create houselisting blocks using satellite imagery, ensuring uniform geographic coverage.
HLO Mobile Application: A secure mobile application for enumerators to collect houselisting data offline and upload it directly to servers. The app will be accessible only to registered enumerators through the Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) portal and will operate in 16 regional languages on Android and iOS devices.
Self-Enumeration (SE) Portal: A web-based platform that allows eligible members of households to voluntarily submit their details online before field visits by enumerators. A unique Self-Enumeration ID will be generated and later verified by enumerators.
Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) Portal: A centralised digital dashboard for officials at sub-district, district and state levels to plan, manage and monitor census operations in real time. Officials said the digital ecosystem would enable field-to-server data transmission, eliminating traditional paperwork and improving accuracy and efficiency.
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