Ernakulam crosses 1-lakh mark in Census self-enumeration

Over one lakh people have done self-enumeration for the Houselisting and House Census, the first phase of Census 2027, in Ernakulam.

As many as 1,04,491 respondents have entered the required details online as of 5 p.m. on Friday (June 26, 2026), officials said. Ernakulam was leading the list of districts in self-enumeration well ahead, with Malappuram recording a distant second with 48,457 respondents, followed by Thiruvananthapuram with 46,706.

Despite reaching the 1-lakh mark, the response to the self-enumeration phase in Ernakulam district has fallen far below the district administration’s expectations as only four days remain before the June 30 deadline, officials admitted.

According to an informal estimate, Ernakulam has around 10 lakh buildings, including residential houses, and officials said they had expected residents of at least half of them to complete self-enumeration.

“A higher number of self-enumerations would make the door-to-door enumeration phase, which starts on July 1, much easier. It appears the message about the importance of self-enumeration has not reached people as intended,” a senior district official said.

With the deadline approaching fast, officials are hoping that participation will go up during the next few days. The administration has also sought the support of residents’ associations and elected representatives of local bodies to encourage more households to complete the process before June 30. The campaigns through various government departments, social media, Kochi metro and Water Metro, digital boards, and electronic media will also be intensified over the weekend, officials said.

The self-enumeration phase, which began on June 16, allows households to submit their details online before the door-to-door survey begins.

Officials said self-enumeration considerably reduces the workload of enumerators. Families that complete the online process receive a unique 11-digit self enumeration ID, which they can provide during the field visit.

“In such cases, the enumerator has to record the ID and ask only four additional questions. If self-enumeration has not been done, the enumerator will have to go through the entire process by asking all 33 questions, making the exercise much more time-consuming,” an official said.

The Houselisting and Housing Census will be followed by the population enumeration phase.