The first phase of Census 2027 will kick off in Uttar Pradesh with the self enumeration process from May 7 to 21 followed by house listing and housing census activities from May 22 to June 20.
Sheetal Verma, director, Census Operations, Uttar Pradesh, said: “The state is prepared for its first digital census. The Census 2027 will be the 16th in the series of Indian Census and 8th since independence.”
Several new features have been initiated this time, including mobile-based data collection, near real-time monitoring through the Census Management & Monitoring System (CMMS) portal, an optional self-enumeration facility, and extensive use of geo-referenced jurisdictions. A comprehensive caste enumeration will be done during the population enumeration phase commencing from February 9, 2027, she added.
For the collection of the data during the house listing and housing census, Uttar Pradesh, which has 18 divisions, 75 districts, 350 tehsils, 17 municipal corporations, 745 urban local bodies, 21 Cantonment Boards/ industrial townships, 57,694 panchayats and 1.4 lakh revenue villages, has been divided into 3.89 lakh house listing blocks (HLBs).
For the housing census work, each enumerator will be allotted one HLB that will contain around 200 houses while in some cases there will be 300 houses. The top five districts with the highest number of HLBs include Prayagraj, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh and Lucknow while five districts with the lowest number of HLBs include Mahoba, Chitrakoot, Shravasti, Hamirpur and Baghpat.
The preparation of the maps of HLBs have been completed. The HLB creator web mapping application is being used to facilitate digital creation of HLBs using satellite imagery, ensuring geographic coverage across the state without omission and duplication.
“The Directorate of Census Operation Uttar Pradesh has pressed into service around 5.47 lakh personnel, including 4.5 lakh enumerator, 85,000 supervisors as well as 12,000 state and district level officers for house census work. The training of the majority of the personnel has been completed,” she added.
The house listing and house census will be preceded by an optional 15-day self-enumeration work . People will have to log on to the self-enumeration portal- that will permit the eligible respondents within a household to submit their household information online.
The users will have to register themselves with mobile numbers. Then they will have to select a language (16 languages are available on the portal) to fill in the details, including state, district, city/ village, house number and location. Then, they will have to tag the house on the map with a red mark.
The house listing and house census phase will gather detailed information on housing conditions, availability of amenities and assets possessed by households. The people will have to fill in the household and family information in the form of 33 questions that include house type, electricity, water, toilet, property, YV, mobile, internet etc.
When the form is submitted a unique Self-Enumeration (SE) ID will be generated. The SE ID is to be shared with the enumerator, on the basis of which the enumerator will be able to confirm the information. The self-enumeration portal is equipped with user guide, flow chart, FAQs, necessary ‘Tool Tips’, tutorial video and validation checks to answer the questions and to ensure accuracy of data.
With the start of the Census, all administrative units in the state will remain frozen as of December 31, 2025. No jurisdictional changes will be made in any administrative unit from January 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, as directed by the ministry of home affairs.
The Uttar Pradesh Census Directorate successfully conducted the pre-test for Census 2027 in two tehsils—Anupshahr (Bulandshahr) and Mihinpurwa (Bahraich)— besides Prayagraj Municipal Corporation area in November last year.
