The Census of India 2027 exercise will commence in Uttarakhand from April 24 as part of the nationwide rollout, marking the beginning of the country’s largest administrative and statistical operation.
For the first time, citizens will be allowed to participate through a self-enumeration process, which will begin on April 10 ahead of the formal house-listing phase.
Uttarakhand Director of Census Operations Eva Ashish Srivastava said the first phase – House Listing Operation (HLO) – will run from April 24 to May 24, focusing on the enumeration of houses and collection of basic household data.
“The HLO will be preceded by a 15-day self-enumeration process starting April 10, enabling citizens to upload their details online,” she said.
The self-enumeration facility, being introduced for the first time, will allow residents to log in to the official portal using their mobile numbers and credentials to digitally submit their information before an enumerator visits their homes.
The platform will be available in 16 regional languages and is designed to be secure and user-friendly.
The initiative will be formally launched by Uttarakhand Governor Gurmit Singh, who will be the first to fill in his details online on April 10.
According to Srivastava, the second phase of the Census will begin in September 2026 in select areas, covering 131 villages and three urban centres across the hilly districts of Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh and Uttarkashi.
Despite the introduction of digital self-enumeration, traditional door-to-door data collection will continue. Enumerators will visit households as usual, and residents who complete the online process will be issued a unique Self-Enumeration ID, which must be shared during field verification.
Around 30,000 enumerators and supervisors will be deployed across nearly 32,000 house-listing blocks in the state. Training is currently underway in 650 batches, involving two national trainers, 23 master trainers and 555 field trainers.
During the HLO phase, field workers will collect detailed information on housing conditions, household amenities and available assets.
A 33-point questionnaire, notified by the Centre in January 2026, will be used to record these critical indicators.