Pune: The state has completed the first phase of Census 2027 — the House Listing and Housing Census — with around 2.45 lakh personnel covering more than 2.2 lakh enumeration blocks and collecting household data through a cellphone application, state census officials said on Monday..The exercise, between May 16 and June 14, covered all 36 districts and 29 municipal corporations. Enumerators visited households and recorded responses to 33 questions notified by the Union govt, related to housing conditions, household amenities and assets.State Directorate of Census Operations officials said the field exercise was completed within the stipulated timeline, with most work ending by Saturday. Enumerators often made repeated visits to locked households.“The enumerators would visit households in the morning and evening and, in many cases, made multiple visits where homes were locked. For the 2.20 lakh house-listing blocks created across the state, each group had six enumerators supervised by a supervisor, covering a population of at least 800,” the official said.The administration deployed 63 principal census officers, comprising 34 district collectors and 29 municipal commissioners, along with 947 charge officers, 141 master trainers, 3,850 field trainers and around 2.45 lakh enumerators and supervisors.A total of 2,20,514 house-listing blocks were created and assigned to the enumerators for systematic coverage. One supervisor monitored every group of six enumerators to facilitate smooth field operations.Officials said the exercise generated data on housing conditions, availability of household amenities, and asset ownership, and established the framework for the population enumeration phase scheduled for Feb 2027. The groundwork laid during the first phase is expected to help ensure complete coverage of the population during the next stage of the Census.The directorate reiterated that all personal information collected during the exercise is protected under the provisions of the Census Act and will remain strictly confidential.Conducted under the Census Act, 1948, and the Census Rules, 1990, Census 2027 will be the 16th Census of India and the eighth since Independence. The Centre had notified its intention to conduct the Census on June 16, 2025. The reference date for Population Enumeration will be 00:00 hours on March 1, 2027.Enumerators told TOI that they could complete the drive and submit their reports despite the hiccups regarding uploading data. “All enumerators have uploaded the data, but some supervisors have been given a grace period of one or two days to sync the data. It is usual,’’ a senior official said. The exercise did not need any extension unlike some previous census drives, they added.
