New Delhi: The upcoming Census will collect data on sex of head of household--Male, Female and Transgender, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
In the 2011 Census, this data was collected in the “other category”. The population of ‘other’ as per Census 2011 is 4,87,803.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, in a written response to a question by the member of parliament Tiruchi Siva, said Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases. The questions for the first phase, which covers Houselisting and Housing Census, have been notified.
“Information on Housing condition, Household particulars including name and sex of the head of the household, amenities available and assets possessed by household will be collected in this phase. Three categories of sex of head of household viz. Male/Female/Transgender will be collected,” Rai said.
Questions for the second phase, which is Population Enumeration where information of each individual will be collected, will be notified in due course, he added.
On being asked whether the self-enumeration approach could increase risks of inaccurate or falsified data due to lack of enumerator guidance and about steps being taken to ensure data credibility, Rai said, “Enumerators shall undertake house-to-house field visits in the entire enumeration area for the collection of Census data to avoid any exclusion on any ground.”
He added, “Provision of self-enumeration is an additional facility for the respondents to submit data. Enumerators will confirm self-enumeration data before final submission. Further, FAQs, necessary ‘Tool Tips’ and validation checks for questions are provided in the self-enumeration Portal itself to ensure accuracy of data.”
{{/usCountry}}He added, “Provision of self-enumeration is an additional facility for the respondents to submit data. Enumerators will confirm self-enumeration data before final submission. Further, FAQs, necessary ‘Tool Tips’ and validation checks for questions are provided in the self-enumeration Portal itself to ensure accuracy of data.”
{{/usCountry}}The minister said all suitable measures have been taken for data security while collecting data on mobile, during data transmission and at the server level.
“Adequate training is being provided to all field functionaries appointed for Census work including enumerators and supervisors. Validation rules are incorporated in the mobile app itself to ensure data consistency and accuracy. Further, Data collected by enumerators will also be monitored and checked by supervisors,” he said.
The upcoming Census will be conducted in two phases — houselisting and housing census from April to September 2026, and population enumeration (PE) in February 2027. In the first phase, HLO (houselisting operation), housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household will be collected from April 1, 2026. Subsequently, in the second phase or PE (population enumeration), the demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household will be collected from February 1, 2027.