First phase of Census begins April 1, government notifies 33-question format

Census to begin April 1

• Census first phase starts April 1, covering houselisting and housing details
• Enumerators will ask 33 questions on housing, amenities, and household info
• Collecting data on cereal use, vehicle ownership, and access to modern facilities

Did our AI summary help?

The government has notified 33 questions that citizens will have to answer during the first phase of the Census which is scheduled to begin on April 1. The initial phase, which concludes on September 30, will cover house-listing and housing enumeration.

According to a gazette notification released on Thursday, Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan outlined questions covering flooring and roof materials, the number of married couples in a household, the sex of the household head, cereal consumption patterns, availability of basic and modern amenities, and vehicle ownership.

"The Central Government hereby instructs that all Census officers may, within the limits of the local areas for which they have been respectively appointed, ask all such questions from all persons on the items enumerated below for collecting information through the houselisting and housing census schedule in connection with the Census of India 2027." The enumerators will ask about the ownership status of the house, its use, the type of material used in flooring and roof, the number of rooms, and the sex of the head of the household during the survey," it said.

Officials will seek details about the use of the house, its condition, and the number of persons normally residing in the household. They will ask the building number (municipal or local authority or census number), census house number, predominant material used in the floor, wall and roof of the house.

The enumerators will also gather details about the head of the household, including name and sex, whether the person belongs to a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or other communities, and the ownership status.

Information on access to modern facilities—including radio, TV, internet, laptops, computers, mobile phones and smartphones—will be captured, along with the type of vehicles owned and the primary cereal consumed by the household. A mobile number will also be obtained for census-related communication.

The houselisting phase will be carried out over a 30-day period, to be notified separately by each state and Union Territory, between April 1 and September 30. A 15-day self-enumeration window will be provided ahead of field operations.

The Rs 11,718 crore Census will be conducted in two stages - house-listing and housing census between April and September, and the population enumeration phase in February 2027.

According to 2011 Census, India's population was 1,210.19 million, of which 623.72 million (51.54%) were male, and 586.46 million (48.46%) were female.