Census 2027: Self-enumeration ends in NDMC, Delhi Cantt; 5,000 people exercise option

The NDMC and Delhi Cantt areas registered around 5,000 self-enumerations by individuals till the last day of the process on Wednesday, officials said.

The number was “quite low”, although the process was voluntary, the officials said.

The Housing and House Listing phase of Census 2027 will now begin in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi Cantonment Board areas from Thursday, with around 800 enumerators hitting the ground to conduct the door-to-door exercise.

“During the mapping exercise, around 560 house listing blocks, each having 180-200 houses, have been identified that will be visited by the enumerators for recording replies to the list of 33 questions notified by the government,” said a senior Delhi government officer.

Self-enumeration was launched in NDMC and Delhi Cantt areas on April 1, with President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President C P Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi participating in the exercise on the first day.

The self-enumeration exercise will begin from May 1 in the remaining areas of the national capital falling under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

According to officials associated with the work, all preparations for the house listing phase, including the formation of teams, have already been completed. The house listing exercise will take place in the city in the two 30-day windows.

The NDMC and Delhi Cantonment areas will undergo the exercise from April 16 to May 15, and the MCD areas from May 16 to June 15, they said.

The Delhi divisional commissioner will function as the census commissioner, assisted by the 13 district magistrates (DMs) at the district level. Apart from revenue officials, personnel from other departments will be part of the Census teams that will conduct the door-to-door survey.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has notified a list of questions to be asked of individuals during the house listing and housing exercise. The list of questions was later notified in the gazette on behalf of the Delhi LG, by the office of the divisional commissioner.

The questions to be asked during the house listing phase will include building number, census house number, predominant materials used in the floor, wall, and roof of the house, use and condition of the house, total number of persons in the household and the name of the head of the household.

Ownership of house, number of dwelling rooms, main source of drinking water, main source of lighting, access to toilet and bathroom, fuel used for cooking, use of radio, television, computer, laptop, bicycle, car, jeep, van, main cereal consumed and the use of mobile phones will be other questions, according to the notification.

The entire house listing and housing exercise will be conducted digitally with enumerators recording data using a mobile app specifically designed for this purpose, said the officials.

The entire Census 2027 exercise will be undertaken in two phases. The house listing and housing phase will be followed by population enumeration in February 2027, encompassing the collection of demographic, socio-economic data covering caste.