Government to detail blueprint for next census exercise
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New Delhi: Registrar General and Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan will outline the 2027 census blueprint at a noon press conference today at the National Media Centre.
The briefing promises a detailed plan for India's first fully digital census, featuring online self-enumeration to let citizens submit details directly, minimizing enumerator reliance.
Key highlights include a 45-day houselisting phase from April 1 to September 30, with 33 questions covering household data—like the number of married couples. State-specific timelines will follow.
In a landmark shift, live-in couples in "stable unions" will be treated as married for census purposes, sources confirmed via the self-enumeration portal. "If they (the couple) consider their relationship to be a stable one, they should indeed be treated as a married couple," the guidance states—the first formal recognition of its kind.
Ahead of the exercise, Narayan warned officials in a March 17 directive: negligence, data misuse, obstructing operations, or offensive questioning violate the Census Act, 1948. Penalties under Section 11 include fines up to Rs 1,000 and up to three years' imprisonment, or both.
(Inputs from IANS)