Srinagar: The official schedule for Census 2027 in Jammu and Kashmir has been notified, with the first household count and listing work scheduled to begin between May and June, the first in 16 years.
An official notification from the Jammu and Kashmir government states that a 15-day self-enumeration program will begin on May 17th, prior to the census, in which people will submit their details digitally, i.e. online.
This is the first time self-enumeration has been included in the census before the door-to-door survey. As this is the first digital census, data collection will be conducted using a mobile application and a central portal for monitoring.
Amit Sharma, Director of Census Operations for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, stated that they are starting the first phase of the census, followed by the second phase. He told ETV Bharat, “The first phase involves house listing and house enumeration, and officials will visit each household to collect details.”
In the Union Territory, approximately 3,000 officials are being trained and prepared for the census to be part of the detailed data collection. These officials are part of a 3 million-strong workforce that will carry out the mammoth task of collecting details across India, with the aim of ensuring no exclusions on any grounds.
According to the central government, the census will be conducted in two phases: house listing and house enumeration in 2026, followed by a population count in 2027. The objective of the house listing and housing census is to create a complete list of buildings and houses across the country.
The cutoff date for the census has been set as March 1, 2027, but for Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and the snow-capped Western Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date has been set as October 1, 2026.
Using his powers under Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948, along with Rule 6A and Rule 8(iii) of the Census Rules, 1990, the Finance Commissioner of the Jammu and Kashmir Planning, Development and Monitoring Department notified the house listing campaign for 30 days, starting June 1.
This replaces the previous notification issued in December 2019, when the 2021 census was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last nationwide census was conducted in 2011, when the central government approved a budget of ₹11,718 crore.
During house listing and household enumeration, government officials will ask 33 questions, including the ownership of the house, its use, the main construction materials used for flooring and roofing, the number of people in the house, and the head of the household.
The 2027 Census will be the 16th census and the eighth since independence, collecting micro-data on parameters such as households, amenities, demographics, language, etc. This exercise is carried out under the Census Act, 1948, and the Census Rules, 1990 provide the legal framework.
