E-Paper
Census 2027: Only 1.5 lakh opt for self-enumeration in Punjab, door-to-door drive starts today
The self-enumeration process was conducted from April 30 to May 14 across all 23 districts of Punjab as part of the first phase of Census 2027, which is set to become India’s first fully digital Census exercise.
CHANDIGARH
The self-enumeration phase of Census 2027 in Punjab concluded on Thursday with only around 1.5 lakh residents completing the online process, accounting for merely 0.54% of the state’s population recorded in the 2011 Census.
With the deadline ending, enumerators will now conduct a door-to-door household survey across Punjab from May 15 till June 13. Officials will collect demographic, socio-economic and housing-related information from households during the exercise.
The self-enumeration process was conducted from April 30 to May 14 across all 23 districts of Punjab as part of the first phase of Census 2027, which is set to become India’s first fully digital Census exercise.
Among all districts, Ludhiana recorded the highest participation with nearly 25,000 residents completing self-enumeration online. Mohali followed with around 10,000 online submissions. Officials noted that urban districts witnessed comparatively better participation than rural areas.
Head of the directorate of census operations, Punjab, Navjot Khosa termed the response encouraging and said awareness regarding the digital process had gradually improved during the campaign period.
Khosa also assured residents that all data collected during the Census process would remain strictly confidential and would be used only for statistical and policy-related purposes.
She clarified that citizens are not required to provide any identity proof such as Aadhaar cards or voter identity cards to Census enumerators. She also advised people to remain cautious against fraud and avoid sharing OTPs or clicking suspicious links circulated in the name of Census verification.
The ongoing house-listing and housing census phase beginning May 15 will document housing conditions, household amenities and assets across the state.
The second phase of Census 2027 — population enumeration — is scheduled to be conducted from February 9 to February 28, 2027.
Census data serves as the primary database for formulation of welfare schemes, infrastructure planning, allocation of government resources and policy decisions. The figures are also used in delimitation of constituencies and for research and governance-related studies.
Census 2027 will be India’s 16th Census and the eighth after Independence. The previous Census was conducted in 2011, while the 2021 Census was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the 2011 Census, Punjab had a population of nearly 2.77 crore, including around 1.46 crore males and 1.31 crore females.
