Lucknow, April 8 Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary S P Goyal reviewed preparations for the first phase of the 2027 Census on Wednesday and directed officials to complete key groundwork, including a digital database of enumerators, by April 10.
The review meeting, held via video conferencing with divisional commissioners and district magistrates, focused on house listing and housing enumeration to be undertaken in the first phase, according to a statement issued by the chief secretary's office.
Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan also joined the meeting and issued guidelines for implementation, it stated.
Goyal instructed officials to ensure complete and accurate enumeration, particularly in densely populated urban areas, slums, and regions with highly mobile populations. He directed that a verified and updated digital database of around 5.5 lakh enumerators and supervisors be prepared by April 10.
He further instructed that all enumerators and supervisors must undergo mandatory and comprehensive training before field deployment, to be conducted between April 16 and May 7, with all arrangements completed in advance.
Officials were also asked to ensure accurate demarcation of enumeration blocks with clear boundaries and to expedite the hiring of technical assistants for geo-tagging and mapping work.
Highlighting a key feature of the upcoming census, Goyal said a self-enumeration facility will be made available to citizens. The self-enumeration portal will remain open in Uttar Pradesh from May 7 to May 21, 2026, allowing people to fill in details of their households, according to the statement.
Addressing the meeting, Narayan underlined the importance of census data in shaping the country's development policies and called for making the exercise a "people's movement" to ensure accuracy and participation.
He said the 2027 Census in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted entirely in digital mode, with data collection, entry, verification, and monitoring carried out through digital platforms.
Director of Census Sheetal Verma gave a presentation on the process, timelines, and digital transformation of the exercise. She said the first phase -- house listing and housing census -- will be conducted from May 22 to June 20, 2026, while the second phase, population enumeration, will take place from February 9 to February 28, 2027.
Senior officials, including Principal Secretary (Revenue) Aparna U, Principal Secretary (General Administration) Manish Chauhan, and Secretary Abhishek Prakash, were present at the meeting.