The Census self-enumeration phase in Maharashtra will start on May 1, initiating India’s first digital population count. Nirupama Dange, Chief Principal Census Officer, highlighted the shift to digital governance, utilizing mobile apps and an online portal for real-time data collection. Citizens are urged to use the official website and avoid responding to unauthorized SMS during the exercise.
The self-enumeration process will run from May 1 to May 15, 2026, followed by house listing and housing Census until June 14, 2026. Enumerators will visit eight to ten households daily for data collection. After online submission, individuals will receive an 11-digit unique ID starting with ‘H’ for verification by enumerators.
To aid the Census, district boundaries in Maharashtra have been frozen from January 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027. Over 2.64 lakh field personnel, including enumerators and supervisors, will be deployed after training. A Census Monitoring and Management System portal will supervise data handling during the exercise.
Enumeration will cover slum and non-slum areas using predefined maps, with migratory populations counted at their workplaces. Census entries are at the household level and do not serve as legal documents. Next year, a ward-wise population count will be conducted as part of the Census process.
