India Launches First Phase of Digital Census 2027, President and PM Lead Initiative

The first phase of India’s Census 2027 commenced on April 1 and will continue until September 30, 2026. Marking the launch of the country’s first-ever digital census, President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were the first to submit their data on the opening day. The process has been initiated through a self-enumeration portal, allowing citizens to fill in their own details. This census will be entirely paperless, aiming to enhance both the speed and accuracy of data collection. While India has conducted censuses regularly in the past, this is the first time the exercise is being carried out using a fully digital approach, with top national leaders personally participating at the outset. The move is being seen as a significant step towards strengthening the Digital India initiative. The first phase will focus on ‘house listing’, which involves counting residential units. The second phase, known as the ‘population census’, is scheduled for February 2027. During this stage, information related to caste will also be collected. This will be the first time since Independence that caste-based data is being gathered, with the last such exercise conducted in 1931. For the first time, the entire census process will be conducted digitally. Field staff will collect data directly on smartphones using a dedicated mobile application. Previously, census data was recorded on paper and later digitised, a process that required considerable time.