Census 2027 Geo-Tagging Initiative
The Centre plans to geo-tag all buildings, both residential and non-residential, as part of the Census 2027 operations.
Geo-Tagging Process
- Digital Layout Mapping (DLM): Will be used by enumerators for geo-tagging during Houselisting Operations (HLO).
- Houselisting Blocks (HLBs): Areas in villages or town wards which are mapped for Census Operations.
- Geo-Tagged Maps: Automatically generated layout maps derived from geo-tagged building data, replacing hand-drawn sketches from previous censuses.
Categories and Definitions
- Building Categories: Buildings will be classified as residential, non-residential, partly residential, and landmark.
- Household Definition (Census 2011): A group of persons normally living together and sharing meals from a common kitchen.
Benefits of Geo-Tagging
- Enhances accuracy in estimating Census houses and households.
- Improves workload management across field functionaries.
Technological Advancements
- Digital Census: Data collected via mobile applications.
- Self-Enumeration: Public option to self-enumerate.
- Census Monitoring & Monitoring System (CMMS): Developed for real-time monitoring and management.
Statistics and Schedule
- Number of Houses (Census 2011): 330.84 million total; 220.70 million rural, 110.14 million urban.
- Houselisting Operation: Scheduled from April to September 2026.
- Population Enumeration: Starts February 2027, except specific regions in September 2026.
This initiative marks the first digital census in India, aiming to incorporate technological advancements for efficient data collection and management.
