Census 2027 goes digital: Self-enumeration begins today in Maharashtra

BMC employees receive training in census-taking at an Andheri school ahead of the 2011 census. FILE PIC

Starting today, citizens of Maharashtra will be able to initiate the digital self-enumeration process for the Census 2027, on the HLO mobile application, until May 14. This is part of the Phase I (Houselisting) of the census. It is optional for citizens to download the mobile application and declare their assets and amenities as part of this phase.

Starting May 15, government-appointed teachers will begin to visit homes to verify information that is digitally disclaimed by citizens. The door-to-door exercise will conclude on June 14.

Facts about Census 2027

1) 1st digital census with mobile application and a web-based portal for self-enumeration
2) 8th census since Independence
3) 16th census since 1872, when the exercise of conducting a census was started
4) The census is a decadal exercise carried out by the Indian government. It was last conducted in 2011. Due to the pandemic, the schedule of this exercise was postponed in 2021

The self-enumeration process

1) Any one member of a household can self-enumerate and give details of the entire household
2) The process will take 15 to 20 minutes
3) It requires an internet connection
4) No documents are required
5) An 11-digit SE ID will be generated after the submission of these details, starting with a prefix H followed by numbers
6) When officials visit households, providing this ID will reduce verification time

Door-to-door visits

1) A single official will visit a household with a government-issued ID card
2) No specific uniforms have been assigned to the field officials
3) They have been instructed to visit during the morning and evening hours to avoid heatwave conditions
4) Citizens will be asked 33 questions regarding their home and accessibility

Private data

This data cannot be used as proof during enquiries, for police cases, for legal cases in a court of law, and it cannot be sought by any person through an RTI application.

Only designated officials have access with password and OTP, and the data is encrypted and stored. An official from the department of census operations, Maharashtra, said, "The individual data is protected. It cannot be used or extracted for any purposes. We are requesting citizens to give reasonable entry to field staff and disclose the required information."

Census timeline

1st phase: May 15 to June 14 - household surveys
2nd phase: Feb 2027 - survey of the population

What are citizens supposed to do

1) Self-enumeration exercise between May 1 and May 15
The web portal is: https://se.census.gov.in
2) Participate in household surveys being carried out from May 15 to June 14