Census 2027 Begins April 1; Check 33 FAQs for Phase 1

March 30, 2026 - The first phase of Census 2027 will begin from April 1, 2026, across India with focus on housing and assets only, the Central Government announced Monday (March 30). Phase 2 will start on February 1, 2027.

Sharing this news at a media briefing, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan said the Census will be conducted in two phases. In the first phase, house listing and self-enumeration will be carried out.

The self-enumeration facility will be conducted over a 15-day period between April 1 and August 31 this year, with the schedule varying across States and Union Territories. After each State and Union Territory carries out the Self-Enumeration, the house listing operations will be conducted over a 30-day period till September 30.

With the new feature of self-enumeration, citizens can fill their census details online and submit them with a 15-day window before the house-to-house activity begins. This self-enumeration option is only for citizens residing in the country.

Phase 1 is called House Listing & Housing Census (HLO) and will collect data on basic household facilities and amenities (such as drinking water, electricity, toilet, LPG, etc.) and assets (vehicles, phones, internet, etc.). No documents will be required during Phase 1 enumeration.

Around 33 questions will be asked but no personal/demographic details (like caste, religion, etc.) will be collected in this phase. Homeless people will not be counted in Phase 1 but in Phase 2 (Population Enumeration).

The self-enumeration portal has a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to make it easy for people to answer questions posed during the census. The self-enumeration portal will be available in 16 languages.

Secure data centres are being set up as “Critical Information Infrastructure”.

“Stable” live-in couples may be counted as married in census records

List of the 33 Questions

1. Building Number (Municipal or Local Authority | or Census Number)
2. House Number
3. Predominant material used for the floor of the house
4. Predominant material used for the walls of the house
5. Predominant material used for the roof of the house
6. Use of the house
7. Condition of the house
8. Household Number
9. Number of household members
10. Name of the Head of the Household
11. Gender of the Head of the Household
12. Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Other
13. Ownership status of the house
14. Number of rooms in the house
15. Number of married couples in the household
16. Main source of drinking water
17. Availability of drinking water source
18. Main source of lighting
19. Availability of toilet facility
20. Type of toilet
21. Drainage facility for wastewater
22. Availability of bathing facility
23. Kitchen, LPG/PNG connection
24. Main fuel used for cooking
25. Radio/Transistor
26. Television
27. Internet facility
28. Laptop/Computer
29. Telephone/Mobile Phone/Smartphone
30. Bicycle/Scooter/Motorcycle/Moped
31. Car/Jeep/Van
32. Main cereal consumed
33. Mobile Number

Census 2027 will be India’s 16th census and the eighth since the country's independence.

With Media Inputs

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