Gujarat is gearing up for Census 2027 by mobilizing over 1.09 lakh enumerators and initiating a two-week self-enumeration campaign later this month. The state will introduce a digital self-enumeration portal from May 17 to May 31, allowing citizens to voluntarily provide details about their residences, household amenities, and assets. This marks the first time such a digital participation system is being incorporated into the national census process.
Census Operations Director Sujal Mayatra highlighted that the self-enumeration initiative aims to boost public involvement and enhance the efficiency and accuracy of data collection through digital governance methods. The state-wide House-listing Operations (HLO) will kick off from June 1 to June 30, involving door-to-door visits by census officials using a specialized mobile application for fieldwork. The initial phase will concentrate on tallying houses and gathering housing-related information, with population enumeration scheduled separately for February 2027.
Gujarat, with 34 districts, 268 talukas, 18,117 villages, 197 towns, and 17 municipal corporations, has set up 51 Principal Census Offices (PCOs), 624 charges, and 1,10,598 House-listing Blocks (HLBs) for the census exercise. The state will deploy 1,09,038 enumerators along with a reserve pool of 11,169 staff, supported by 18,254 supervisors and an additional reserve of 2,187 supervisors for the operation. Each enumerator is expected to cover data for around 700 to 800 individuals during the 30-day field operation period.
Training sessions for census staff are in progress to acquaint personnel with procedures and digital systems, with a focus on expediting the process. Responding to concerns about workload distribution, particularly among government employees like teachers, Mayatra mentioned that decisions regarding this issue rest with state authorities. The house-listing exercise will encompass 33 questions covering various aspects such as housing conditions, ownership status, amenities, and digital connectivity.
