Pre-test exercise for 1st phase of Census 2027 to be held from Nov 10-30

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The pre-test exercise for the first phase of Population Census 2027, which will include Houselisting and Housing census, shall be conducted in select sample areas in all the states and Union territories from November 10-30, 2025, a top official said on Friday.

In a gazette notification, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, said an option for self-enumeration will also be available from November 1-7.

The pre-test exercise tests the efficacy of the Census to be conducted between April 1, 2026, and February 28, 2027, in two phases -- Houselisting and Housing Schedule (HLO), and Population Enumeration.

It will be the first digital census, which will also enumerate the caste of the citizens.

During the test phase, all aspects of the mammoth exercise, ranging from questions, data collection, training, logistics, mobile application and software, will be evaluated to plug any issues in the process, officials said.

In Phase-1, i.e., Houselisting Operation (HLO), data on housing conditions, assets and amenities of each household will be collected.

In Phase-2, i.e., Population Enumeration (PE), the demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details of every person in each household will be collected. The process is scheduled for February 1, 2027, the notification said.

More than 34 lakh enumerators and supervisors and around 1.3 lakh Census functionaries would be deployed for the entire exercise.

It will be the 16th Census since the beginning of the exercise, and the eighth after Independence.