Over 30,871 enumerators and supervisors will be deployed to effectively manage the massive scale of the enumeration process during the upcoming Census operations in Jammu and Kashmir. These enumerators will be trained by 614 field trainers.
Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, in presence of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, on Monday chaired a high-level sensitisation session to review and strengthen preparations for the upcoming Census, 2027 which will be conducted digitally for the first time across the country.
The session was attended by Administrative Secretaries of various departments, senior officers of the Union Territory administration, Divisional and District administration officers and representatives of multiple government departments.
The Chief Secretary emphasised the need for coordinated and proactive preparations for the smooth conduct of the census operations. He also underscored the importance of public awareness and outreach, stressing that citizens must be encouraged to actively participate in the census process and provide accurate information.
Speaking on the occasion, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan expressed satisfaction over the level of preparedness and the comprehensive sensitisation carried out for officers at different levels of the administration in Jammu and Kashmir.
Highlighting the significance of the census exercise, he said that census data plays a pivotal role in determining the share of states and Union Territories in various Finance Commission allocations and government development programmes. He noted that the census serves as the foundational dataset guiding policy planning and development initiatives for the next decade.
He urged officers and field functionaries to exercise utmost diligence while collecting information, stressing that the quality and reliability of census data are critical for ensuring evidence-based planning and objective policy outcomes.
Director Census Operations for Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Amit Sharma delivered a detailed presentation outlining the strategy, methodology, administrative arrangements and digital systems planned for conducting the census operations in the Union Territory.
He informed that the Census of India 2027 will be conducted in two phases across the country. The first phase will comprise the House Listing Operations (HLO), followed by the second phase of Population Enumeration.
Considering the unique geographic and climatic conditions of Jammu and Kashmir, Phase-II (Population Enumeration) will commence in September 2026 for snow-bound areas and in February 2027 for non-snowbound regions.
Recognising the crucial role of grassroots personnel in the census exercise, the Government has sanctioned an honorarium of Rs.25,000 each for enumerators and supervisors, including Rs.9,000 for the Houselisting phase and Rs.16,000 for the Population Enumeration phase.
The upcoming census will capture comprehensive information related to housing conditions, household amenities, assets, demographic characteristics, language, literacy, education, economic activity, migration patterns and other socio-economic indicators. Such data forms the backbone for policy formulation, planning and development programmes at the national, state and local levels.
A major highlight of the upcoming census will be digital data collection through a dedicated mobile application specifically developed for census operations.