Population Foundation of India welcomes the rollout of the first phase of Census 2027 from 1 April, marking the resumption of a critical governance exercise after a prolonged gap, while highlighting that India’s first digital Census be designed with inclusion, accuracy, and equity at its core.
India will conduct its Census digitally for the first time, with mobile-based data collection, real-time monitoring, and an option for self-enumeration alongside door-to-door enumeration.
“India is trying to govern a 2026–27 reality using 2011 data. That’s a 15-year blind spot in a fast-changing country,” said Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India. “The restart of the Census is long overdue, and will help deal with the consequences of the delay for planning, welfare delivery, and inclusion.”
Over the past decade, India has witnessed significant demographic changes—including large-scale migration, rapid urbanisation, declining fertility in several states, and emerging ageing challenges—none of which are fully reflected in current policy frameworks.
Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, with housing data collected in 2026 and population enumeration in 2027, including caste data. For the first time, households will have the option to self-enumerate online, while enumerators will continue to visit households to verify and collect data. Population Foundation of India noted that digitisation can improve efficiency, speed, and transparency. India’s Census has historically been highly credible by global standards, with net error rates well below 1 percent. However, in a country as large and diverse as India, challenges such as migration, informal settlements, and hard-to-reach populations require careful attention.
“Digitisation is a welcome step, but a digital-first approach cannot assume universal access,” said Muttreja. “Self-enumeration depends on mobile access, connectivity, and digital literacy. If not designed carefully, it risks excluding those already on the margins—migrants, the urban poor, women without phone access, and the elderly. ”
Population Foundation of India also highlighted the importance of safeguarding data privacy in a fully digital Census, particularly given the collection of sensitive personal information.
“Concerns around data security, cybersecurity threats, and the protection of sensitive data such as caste must be addressed proactively,” Muttreja said. “Building public trust will be key to ensuring full and accurate participation.”
Population Foundation of India emphasised that a gender lens is critical to avoid deepening existing data gaps. Women’s unpaid work, informal labour, and migration patterns remain underreported in official data.
“In many households, who fills the form matters,” said Muttreja. “Without safeguards, women’s work and contributions may continue to remain invisible, especially in a self-enumeration model.”
This exercise is important for policy-making, resource allocation, and administrative planning. Accurate and disaggregated Census data is essential for planning across sectors: from health and family planning to education, nutrition, and social protection. Outdated or incomplete data risks masking inequalities and weakening policy responses.
“Without granular data, policies tend to assume ‘one India’ when the reality is many Indias,” Muttreja added. “In health and family planning, this means unmet need and access gaps remain hidden, directly affecting women’s well-being.”
Population Foundation of India emphasised that the success of Census 2027 will depend on a strong hybrid model that combines digital innovation with robust on-ground enumeration.
“This is not just a technical exercise—it is a democratic one,” Muttreja said. “As India moves to a digital Census, the priority must be accuracy, inclusion, and equity. Not speed alone.”
