Two Census apps, test portal for self-enumeration go live

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India launched two mobile applications this week in preparation for the trial phase of the country’s first digital Population Census in 2027.

The pre-test for the first phase, House Listing and Housing Operations (HLO), where a total of 30 questions on housing amenities will be asked, will be held in select areas across the country from November 10 to 30.

The enumerators, including block development officials, revenue officials, and government school teachers, have been trained to collect data on the two applications available on Google Play Store: Digital Layout Map (DLM) and Census 2027-Houselist. The apps are compatible with both Android and Apple phones, and can only be downloaded by authorised personnel.

Public participation needed

The self-enumeration portal is available for testing from November 1 to 7.

“To encourage public participation, a Self-Enumeration facility will be made available through the Census Portal from 1 to 7th November 2025, allowing individuals residing in the areas selected for Pre-Test to submit their details online through the website https://test.census.gov.in/se , prior to field visits by enumerators,” a government statement said.

Digital mode

The DLM app’s description explains the evolution of India’s Census, the world’s largest data collection exercise, into a digital operation.

“Until the 2011 Census, data was collected on paper schedules, with layout map sketches prepared manually. These paper records were later digitised through scanning, a process that was both time-consuming and prone to inconsistencies. With the upcoming 16th Census of India, a historic transformation is taking place. For the first time, Census operations are being carried out in digital mode, ensuring improved accuracy, faster data availability, and enhanced monitoring. A crucial part of this transition is the preparation of Digital Layout Maps and the geo-tagging of all buildings within each Houselisting Block (HLB),” it says.

Records building information

It adds that the DLM app replicates the traditional methodology followed by supervisors and enumerators for drawing notional sketches for houselisting blocks, the primary unit for data collection, while introducing digital efficiency, accuracy, and real-time monitoring capabilities.

The app will record building coordinates (latitude and longitude for each structure), the names of localities, roads or streets, building numbers (if available; otherwise, temporary Census house numbers will be assigned by enumerators), building names (If available), building type (pucca or kutcha), building use (residential, partly residential, and non-residential), landmarks (mandatory), number of floors, and number of Census houses.

The description emphasised that “no personal information of the residents/occupants of the buildings are collected through this app.”

Speed, accuracy, reliability

The description for the House Listing Operation app says it was developed as part of the Census of India 2027 to modernise and streamline the data collection process. “By adopting this digital approach, the Census aims to enhance the speed, accuracy, and reliability of the house listing and housing census operations, laying a strong foundation for the upcoming population enumeration phase,” it says.

Both phases of the Census — houselisting and population enumeration — will be completed between April 1, 2026 and February 28, 2027. The second phase will also count the population by caste for the first time in Independent India.