India launches first-ever fully digital population count

India’s top census official has said key datasets from the country’s 2027 population count could be released within the same year, marking a major shift enabled by fully digital data collection.

Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner, said the move to digital enumeration would significantly speed up compilation compared with previous exercises that relied on paper forms before digitisation, Caliber.Az reports per Indian media.

Census 2027 is set to be the world’s largest population survey and India’s first fully digital census. Authorities will use a mobile application for data collection, while a dedicated web portal will oversee and monitor house-listing and enumeration activities. Officials said respondents will not be required to provide documents.

The 45-day house-listing operations (HLO) phase begins on April 1 in eight states and union territories, including parts of Delhi. The first 15 days will allow for self-enumeration — a first in India’s census history — followed by 30 days of field visits by more than three million enumerators.

Population enumeration is scheduled for February 2027, with March 1, 2027 designated as the reference date, except in some snow-bound regions.

During the enumeration phase, authorities will collect data on religion, fertility, socio-economic status and migration. For the first time since 1931, caste data will also be gathered. Officials said detailed questions for the second phase, including the caste count, will be notified later.

Narayan dismissed any link between the census and updates to the National Population Register or electoral roll revisions. He also stressed that all personal information would remain confidential under the Census Act, urging citizens to participate and provide accurate data to support policymaking and socio-economic planning.

By Sabina Mammadli