Delhi govt starts preparation for Census Phase-1 April roll-out

Delhi government prepares for Census 2027, starting April 1. Phase 1 focuses on housing details, involving 50,000-60,000 officials for data collection.

New Delhi

The Delhi government has nominated 10 statistical officers to serve as master trainers for other officials who will be involved in the exercise and the revenue department will serve as the nodal department for the Census. (Representative photo)

The Delhi government has started preparations for house-listing and housing-portion exercises under Phase 1 of the Census 2027 exercise, which will commence on April 1, officials aware of the matter said on Friday. The first phase will focus on creating an updated inventory of houses and households, a critical groundwork ahead of the population count scheduled for the next year.

The Delhi government has nominated 10 statistical officers to serve as master trainers for other officials who will be involved in the exercise and the revenue department will serve as the nodal department for the Census. Officials said the cascading training model will ensure uniformity and accuracy in data collection.

“The master trainers will train other officials, who will then train others on conducting the exercise. Nearly 50,000 to 60,000 officials will be involved in conducting Census in Delhi,” said an official, who did not wish to be named.

The much-delayed 16th Census will be completed in two phases by March 1, 2027. In the first phase, officials will record the ownership status of the house, its use, condition, and predominant flooring and roofing materials. The first phase is likely to take around two months.

The training will involve directions on how to approach people, ask questions, build rapport, ensure absolute confidentiality of data, maintain complete neutrality in conduct and ensure sensitivity when interacting with the public, particularly on personal questions. Officials said emphasis will be laid on professionalism, patience and respect while dealing with residents.

“Officials will ascertain whether the house is pucca or kutcha, the width of road leading to the house, the type of water supply, etc,” a second official said. The details will be uploaded digitally by the officers through a mobile application, the official said.

The second phase, population enumeration (PE), will commence on February 1, 2027, covering demographic, socio-economic and cultural details. Caste data will be captured electronically during this phase. As per the Census 2011, Delhi’s population was 16,787,941, comprising 8,987,326 males and 7,800,615 females.