The women capturing India’s Census data

The wintertime chill has acceptable in, and Suman, a teacher successful Aniwas colony successful Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district, is retired aft schoolhouse hours to geotag homes and institutions. Glued to her Oppo smartphone, which she purchased successful 2020, Suman has to seizure the latitude and longitude of each location she visits utilizing the compass connected her screen. She indispensable provender these details into the Digital Layout Map (DLM) mobile application.

Multi-step process

Recording coordinates is conscionable 1 portion of the job. The adjacent task is to inquire a acceptable of 35 questions to each household, including the operation materials utilized for the level and roof, the main cereal consumed, the root of drinking water, cooking fuel, among others. These information are to beryllium stored connected different app called the Census 2027-Houselist.

Suman and respective different teachers, mostly women, person been engaged by the territory medication to test-run an important task: the country’s first-ever integer Census.

It volition beryllium India’s archetypal colonisation number since 2011. The exercise, primitively scheduled for 2021, was indefinitely delayed owed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although pandemic-related restrictions ended by 2022, the authorities did not explicate the continuing delay.

Under the Constitution, the archetypal Census aft 2026 tin beryllium utilized arsenic the ground to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies. The adjacent wide predetermination is expected to beryllium held successful 2029.

The last enumeration volition beryllium held betwixt April 1, 2026 and February 28, 2027. The intent to behaviour the Census was notified successful a gazette connected June 16, 2025. It volition beryllium carried retired arsenic per the provisions of the Census Act, 1948.

The ongoing investigating phase, termed a “pre-test” by the government, is divided into 2 phases. The archetypal — the House Listing and Housing Operation (HLO) — is being conducted from November 10-30 successful selected areas of each States and Union Territories.

A model for self-enumeration was disposable from November 1-7. The 2nd phase, the Population Enumeration (PE), has not yet been scheduled.

On August 22, the Registrar-General & Census Commissioner of India (RG & CCI), Mritunjay Kumar, successful a missive to the Directors of Census Operations (DCOs) of each States, called the pre-test a “full formal rehearsal” involving the full authorities machinery.

The second-phase pre-test

Officials are yet to finalise the methodology to enumerate caste for the upcoming Census exercise. In 2011, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance authorities conducted the first-ever caste count, abstracted from the Census exercise, but the findings were ne'er made public.

In 2021, the Union authorities submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court that caste information enumerated successful the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) of 2011 were fraught with “mistakes and inaccuracies”.

While the fig of castes recorded successful the 1931 Census conducted nether the British was 4,147, the SECC showed much than 46 lakh caste surnames. “Assuming that immoderate castes whitethorn bifurcate into sub-castes, the full fig cannot beryllium exponentially precocious to this extent,” the affidavit read, adding that specified information could not beryllium relied upon to find reservations successful admission, employment, oregon elections to section authorities.

While the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are connected the Central list, the situation lies with enumerating Other Backward Classes, who are connected Central and State lists. This is 1 of the reasons the pre-test has been divided into 2 phases. There is, however, nary disorder implicit housing-related questions.

A pre-test is required to trial the efficacy of the full exercise. This includes evaluating the projected questions, information postulation methodologies, grooming effectiveness, logistics, printing processes, and information prime assessment, on with identifying imaginable tract issues arsenic well.

In 2019, erstwhile a pre-test was conducted for the 2021 Census, the questions to beryllium asked for the HLO and PE phases were tested successful 1 go, from August 12 to September 30 the aforesaid year. It covered much than 26 lakh radical successful 76 districts of 36 States and Union Territories. Around 6,000 enumerators and 1,100 supervisors from State governments were engaged.

RG & CCI Narayan had earlier informed States that the boundaries of administrative units volition beryllium frozen by December 31. Any changes to the limits of tehsils and districts would person to beryllium completed earlier then.

Women connected ground

At the tehsil bureau successful Bulandshahr’s Anupshahr, a assistance table has been acceptable up to assistance enumerators recognize the pre-test workout and their relation successful it. Four women from the Directorate of Census Operations successful Lucknow person been deputed astatine the tehsil, 400 kilometres from the Uttar Pradesh capital, to assistance the enumerators navigate the method glitches oregon immoderate different issues that they whitethorn look successful the field.

A three-day grooming was besides provided astatine the tehsil bureau to marque enumerators, mostly teachers and different authorities employees, acquainted with the integer Census process.

Suman, who teaches subject to students from Classes 1-5 astatine Aniwas School, says these days she starts her time astatine 7.30 a.m. and wraps up by 5 p.m. School hours are from 9 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. She indispensable screen 166 households with an estimated colonisation of astir 700 radical successful Aniwas colony for the pre-test exercise. She archetypal geotags homes, past makes a 2nd travel to inquire the 35 questions.

Sandhya, the ‘lekhpal’ (a clerk successful the State Revenue Department), who is supervising the exercise, navigates the lanes with Suman to spot if information are being entered correctly.

“We person deliberately chosen women to pb the tests. During the day, mostly women are astatine location arsenic men are distant astatine work. Women are comfy with different women asking the questions. So it is easier for us,” says Sandhya. Each authorities functionary astatine the Anupshahr tehsil bureau is being fixed an honorarium of ₹10,000 for the pre-test.

Suman says that the full workout is digitally monitored by officials astatine the office successful Lucknow. “If you deliberation I tin simply capable information sitting astatine home, that is not possible. The geocoordinates of each household that are stored successful the DLM app are linked with the Houselist app. So If I americium not contiguous astatine the location, the Houselist app volition not judge data. Moreover, the coordinates are shared successful existent time,” says Suman.

She adds that she has to survey the homes serial-number-wise. “I cannot skip from 1 location to different without completing the task,” she says.

In the August 2025 missive to the DCOs of each States, the RG & CCI had projected that 25-50% of the enumerators successful the pre-test beryllium women. The DCO successful the State is the nodal serviceman from the Office of the Registrar General of India. Each DCO volition coordinate with the State authorities connected the Census.

It was important for enumerators to beryllium embedded successful the community, truthful they are acquainted with the surroundings and the people, says a Census official. The authoritative adds, “Teachers and different authorities officials who are roped successful for the occupation are already known successful the area. But if idiosyncratic asks elaborate questions, we person trained the enumerators to explicate the intent of the workout for the country.”

During the training, the enumerators were acquainted with the questions and besides fixed tips to place households.

“The room is the basal portion of a household. If a gathering has aggregate residents, what defines a household is whether they stock a kitchen. So a location whitethorn person aggregate families. They volition beryllium enumerated based connected their room usage,” the authoritative says.

Door to door

As Suman enters 1 of the bylanes of Aniwas colony to grounds information connected her phone, 1 of the doors is answered by Shalini Sharma, who is studying for a master’s grade successful sociology.

When Suman says she has travel for the Census, Sharma demands an explanation. Lekhpal Sandhya explains that this is simply a pre-test workout for the Census that volition hap successful 2027 and that 3 villages from their territory person been selected. “We volition inquire you astir the fig of radical successful your family, what worldly is the location made of, what amenities you have...” Shalini understands that this is being done to find India’s future.

Around 24 lakh enumeration blocks (EB) finalised for the Census that was scheduled for 2021 are apt to beryllium utilized for the 2027 Census. Each EB usually comprises 150-180 houses oregon 650-800 people. Other than her smartphone, Suman besides carries a printout of the questions, which she has clasped onto a penning board. “It is easier to work questions from the insubstantial and past provender answers into the phone,” she says.

As she moves ahead, the doorway is answered by different nonmigratory who identifies himself arsenic Om Bir Singh Sisodia. When helium is asked if helium knew what the workout was about, Sisodia says, “I deliberation this is for elector registration.”

vijaita.singh@thehindu.co.in

[Edited by sunalini.mathew@thehindu.co.in