Census exercise begins in Karnataka today with opening of self-enumeration window

Allowing people to access the self-enumeration window from Wednesday (April 1), when personal details can be entered into the secured portal, will mark the commencement of the Census of India, 2027, in Karnataka.

Karnataka is among the eight States/Union Territories where the census operation is being launched on April 1. This will be the country’s 16th Census since 1872 and eighth since Independence. It will also be the country’s first fully digital census, and data will be collected through dedicated mobile applications using a “Bring Your Own Device” framework.

Teachers required

In Karnataka, enumerators have been deployed by various departments, and the district administration will be utilising human resources as per the needs.

“The deputy commissioners of the districts concerned have calculated the number of teachers required for census at the district level. As many of the teachers are in evaluation, examination, and other academic-related work, we have not collected the data of the number of teachers to be deployed in each district,” Commissioner for School Education Vikas Kishor Suralkar told The Hindu.

While the online self-enumeration window will be available on web portal se.census.gov.in from April 1 to April 15, the house listing and housing census will commence from April 16 to May 15. The self-enumeration window prior to commencement of the house listing operation will be followed by field verification through house-to-house visits by enumerators and validation of self-enumeration by enumerators. A total of 33 questions are to be answered in the first phase of enumeration.

According to a release from the Directorate of Census Operations, Karnataka, this phase will focus on collecting information on housing conditions, household amenities and assets. It also lays the foundation for subsequent phases by identifying and listing all structures and households, thereby facilitating the formation of population enumeration blocks. The population enumeration is scheduled for February 2027 and will capture detailed demographic and socio-economic information about every individual.

What it includes

The release said that data collection in the house listing operation include housing characteristics (materials of floor, wall, and roof, condition, usage), household details (size, composition, ownership status), amenities (drinking water, sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel), assets (vehicles, electronic items, communication devices, internet access), and additional indicators (main cereal consumed, mobile numbers).

The Census Directorate said that personal information provided during the census will be fully protected by law and is kept strictly confidential under the Census Act, 1948, and the Census Rules, 1990. “It is not shared with any government department, private agency, or even courts of law, and is not used for taxation surveillance or enforcement purposes. Only aggregated statistical data is released, ensuring that no individual or household can be identified.”