Census firsts: Digital data collection and self-enumeration
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In the first-ever digital census , enumerators will collect the data of citizens using mobile applications on their Android and Apple phones, Census India posted in a series of posts on X.A special dedicated web portal will be launched for self-enumeration during the upcoming census, which will be available for both phases of the national enumeration exercise, it was mentioned by the official handle of census.It will also be the first time in the country that citizens will get a chance to self-enumerate through a dedicated web portal which will be available for both the phases of census - Houselisting and Housing Census and Population Enumeration."Digital Census initiative is a transformational step towards modernising the census process. For the first time, technology will be used to collect data and send it electronically to the central server. This will result in early availability of census data," it said.Very stringent data security measures will be in place to ensure security at the time of collection, transmission and storage. HLO will start from April 1, 2026, followed by phase 2 starting February 1, 2027, in which Population Enumeration will be conducted. Castes of household members will be enumerated in the ensuing census.Reference date for the census will be 00:00 hrs of March 1, 2027, and 00:00 hrs of October 1, 2026, for Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir and snowbound non-synchronous areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
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