After a gap of 15 years, Census enumeration will commence in Tamil Nadu on July 17 and last until August 30. This is the first digital census to be carried out in the country.
In a gazette notification, the state government officially announced that the population census, to be conducted over 45 days, will collect information on caste, housing, basic amenities, and modern household accessories.
After the Assembly election and the new government assuming office, self-enumeration will be carried out from July 17 to July 31, 2026. House Listing Operations (HLO) will then be conducted for a month from August 1 2026. After this, the actual Census enumeration will be taken up in February next year.
Gearing up for the massive exercise, Chief Secretary N. Muruganandam chaired the first State-level Coordination Committee meeting on February 2. Among other things, the meeting discussed coordination among various stakeholders, including state government Departments. Over 1.5 lakh officials, including enumerators and supervisors, will be involved in the exercise.
As per the gazette notification, enumerators will ask each household 33 questions, and the questionnaire can be obtained after registering on the portal. The Union government had launched four digital platforms and icons for the Census — the House Listing Block Creator, the HLOA mobile phone app, the Self-Enumeration Portal, and the Census Management and Monitoring system. These platforms are available in 16 languages for the convenience of the citizens.