Door-to-door enumeration to start on January 25

Why in the News

Census 2027 will ask 13 questions that were not asked before, including caste other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and will let households fill in their details online before enumerators visit. The Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner has notified the dates of the Population Enumeration, the second phase of Census 2027. Some States and snow bound areas follow separate schedules, and the exercise is deferred in Manipur.

What is the Population Enumeration, and how will it work?

1. What it is: The Population Enumeration is the phase of the Census in which every household is visited and every person is counted and questioned, like a national roll call. It runs under the Census Act, 1948.
2. Three steps: Households can first fill in details on an online portal. Enumerators then visit door to door for about five weeks, and a short revisional round closes the exercise.
3. One cut off moment: Every answer relates to one reference date, March 1, 2027, so the count describes the country at a single moment.
4. Scale: Census 2027 is the 16th Census of India and the eighth since Independence.
5. The takeaway: The notification turns a general plan into a fixed calendar that most States must follow.

What has changed in the questions?

1. Forty questions: The schedule has 40 questions, of which 13 are new.
2. Caste: The new questions include caste other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. India has had no comprehensive caste count since 1931.
3. Social identity: The new questions also touch on religion and nationality.
4. Family and address: The questions cover the place and date of birth of both parents, the spouse’s name, the permanent residential address, the place of Covid vaccination and digital literacy.
5. Documents and accounts: Households must also state how many bank accounts they hold and whether they have a driving licence. They give passport, mobile, Aadhaar and voter ID numbers if available.

Which areas follow a different schedule?

1. Early States: Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Punjab go first, with their own portal and visit dates.
2. Hill areas: The exercise was completed in Ladakh and in the snow affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand by September 30.
3. Manipur and elections: The exercise is deferred in Manipur till further declaration. Elections are due in Manipur and the four early States early next year.

Challenges

1. Digital divide: Self enumeration may stay low in rural areas, where internet access and literacy are weaker.
2. Identifier questions: Critics say questions on Aadhaar and passport numbers add nothing to statistics and match the fields of a population register, a list of individual residents.
3. Caste classification: Very many jati and sub jati names make standard categories hard to fix.
4. Distrust among minorities: Fear that data may feed a citizenship register can lead people to give false or incomplete answers.

Way Forward

1. Privacy first design: Limit data use to aggregate statistics, in line with the Census Act, 1948 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
2. Awareness campaign: Run a public campaign that the data serves welfare, not surveillance, to raise self enumeration.
3. Human verification: Check self enumerated data through a human visit to keep the count reliable.
4. Field support: Give enumerators technical helplines.

Conclusion

The calendar is now notified for most of the country. What to watch next is the early round in the first States and the date the notification leaves open for Manipur.

Key numbers

1. Early States portal: The self enumeration portal goes live from November 16, 2026.
2. Early States visits: Door to door visits run from December 1, 2026 to January 5, 2027.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2009] Consider the following statements : 1. Between Census 1951 and Census 2001, the density of the population of India has increased more than three times. 2. Between Census 1951 and Census 2001, the annual growth rate (exponential) of the population of India has doubled. Which of the statements given abova is/are correct ? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 ANSWER: (d)”