States asked to flag data quality concerns, make corrections in real time during Census 2027

You don’t have any Active Subscription.

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

Door-to-door enumeration for this second phase of the Census is all set to begin on December 1 in the poll-bound States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Goa. File | Photo Credit: Venkatachalapathy C

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) has asked all States to track the progress of data collection during the population enumeration phase of Census 2027 in real time, enabling authorities to identify “data quality concerns” and initiate corrective measures in a “timely” manner.

Such interjections were not possible during past Census exercises as they were done on paper schedules; the 2027 Census is the first to use digital data collection.

In a letter sent to Chief Secretaries and Directors of Census Operations (DCO) of all States on October 30, RG&CCI Mritunjay Kumar Narayan said that the Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) will serve as the primary platform for planning, monitoring, supervision, training, management, and deployment of field functionaries, as well as issue resolution and the overall conduct of the population enumeration (PE) phase.

“The information available through CMMS shall be regularly reviewed to identify lagging areas, operational bottlenecks, coverage gaps, deployment issues, training deficiencies, data quality concerns and other factors that may adversely affect the conduct of PE,” he said in the letter.

The reports and monitoring tools available in CMMS will facilitate timely corrective action, targeted supervisory intervention, and effective coordination among different administrative levels, he added.

Door-to-door enumeration for this second phase of the Census is all set to begin on December 1 in the poll-bound States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Goa. It has already concluded, on September 30, in Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of J&K, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. The rest of the country will only begin the exercise on January 25, 2027.

Enumerators will ask a set of 40 questions in this phase, including 13 new questions that will be asked for the first time ever; caste (other than Scheduled Tribe/Scheduled Caste); religion, place and date of birth of both parents; number of bank accounts; spouse’s name; nationality; digital literacy; permanent residential address; place of Covid-19 vaccination; passport number; driving licence availability; and mobile, Aadhaar, and voter ID numbers, if available.

On June 4, The Hindu had reported that during the first houselisting operations phase of the Census, enumerators in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan were asked to revisit households and correct data “discrepancies”, particularly on issues such as open defecation and household access to electricity or cooking gas connections.

Around 34 lakh enumerators, most of them government school teachers, will be deployed across the country and assigned enumeration blocks (EBs), each comprising approximately 700 to 800 people.

“Particular attention shall not just be given to monitoring progress of EBs, rather, performance of field functionaries, completion of supervisory checks, coverage of households and population, pendency of field activities, exception reports and other indicators relating to quality and timeliness of enumeration... Thus, the monitoring framework shall be used not only to track progress but also to anticipate potential risks and initiate preventive measures well in advance,” the RG&CCI said in his letter.

He noted that the CMMS will be used as the primary platform for evidence-based decision-making, operational review, and issue resolution during the PE phase, with the objective of ensuring complete coverage, maintaining data quality standards, and achieving timely completion of enumeration activities across all areas.

This is the first digital Census and enumerators will record the data collected through an app on their personal phones.

“Monitor progress of PE on a continuous basis during field operations, including coverage of households and population, quality indicators, supervisory checks and completion status of Enumeration Blocks... The Supervisor shall monitor coverage, ensure data quality, verify completeness, and facilitate timely completion of field operations,” he said.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.