For the first time ever, India will conduct its long-pending Census in 2027 in a completely digital manner using smartphones and indigenously developed apps.
To do so, over 34 lakh enumerators, trained and deployed by the Registrar General of India (RGI), will collect the data using their own smartphones. Importantly, they will be able to transfer it to the central server through the dedicated mobile apps.
After decades of manually collecting and processing the data of billions of Indians, the new approach will allow for the faster publication of datasets. This in turn will help “make quality and reliable official data available at the earliest for evidence-based policy making”, according to an MHA report. Furthermore, it is expected to help with the smooth implementation of government welfare schemes, ensuring the social benefits reach the “focused and targeted group of beneficiaries”.
The mobile apps - Census 2021-Household and PE-Census 2021 (Population Enumeration) - were initially developed by the RGI’s National Data Centre (NDC) for the 2021 Census. But the 2021 Census was postponed on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, given that the government has said that comprehensive caste information will also be collected for the first time in independent India, these apps will be updated and recalibrated. The apps will be made available in English as well as in regional languages for both Android and iOS operating systems. But, only the aforementioned government enumerators will be able to access and use them.
Importantly, there will be a provision of paper schedules also being kept, in case of connectivity issues. In this case, the enumerator will have to then enter it on a dedicated web portal avoiding the need for subsequent scanning or data entry.
During the houselisting operation, details on housing conditions, amenities, and assets possessed by the households will be collected. Additionally, the castes of household members will be enumerated, with people given the option to self-enumerate.
Another first for the 2027 Census will be the geo-tagging of all buildings, residential and non-residential. Now, geo-tagging is the process of assigning a unique latitude-longitude coordinate to a specific building on a Geographical Information System (GIS) map.
According to a report by The Indian Express, enumerators will use Digital Layout Mapping (DLM) to geo-tag all buildings with their assigned Houselisting Blocks (HLBs) during the houselisting operations.
