New Delhi, 05 March (H.S.): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday inaugurated key digital infrastructure and introduced mascots Pragati and Vikas for Census 2027, heralding India's first fully digital population enumeration—a monumental exercise poised to redefine data collection in the world's most populous nation.
The soft launch, held amid heightened anticipation for the twin-phase census, underscores the government's commitment to technological innovation as India marches toward its 2047 vision of becoming a developed economy. Pragati, symbolizing the female enumerator, and Vikas, her male counterpart, embody gender parity in the workforce, with officials emphasizing their role in promoting inclusive participation across diverse demographics.
Developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), the census will leverage four pivotal digital systems to ensure precision, efficiency, and real-time oversight:
Houselisting Block Creator: A web application that harnesses satellite imagery to delineate houselisting blocks, streamlining urban and rural mapping.
HLO Mobile Application: Empowers enumerators to capture and upload field data via smartphones, minimizing errors in real-time.
Self-Enumeration Portal: A secure, multilingual (16-language) online platform allowing citizens to pre-submit household details, offering a 15-day window before door-to-door surveys commence.
Census Management and Monitoring System: Provides authorities with live dashboards to track progress nationwide.
This digital pivot follows a June 16, 2025, gazette notification formalizing the census framework.
Phase I, the Houselisting and Housing Census, targets housing conditions and amenities from April 1 to September 30, 2026, with state-specific 30-day windows.
Phase II, population enumeration capturing demographic, social, and economic profiles, is slated for February 2027—advanced to September 2026 in snow-prone regions like Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Over 3 million enumerators, supervisors, and support staff will mobilize, armed with mobile apps to guarantee comprehensive coverage. This isn't just a census; it's a digital revolution for self-reliant India, Shah stated, aligning the initiative with Viksit Bharat@2047 goals.
The exercise arrives after a seven-year hiatus since the delayed 2021 census, postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early tests, including Phase-I pre-trials, affirm readiness for a seamless rollout.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
