New Delhi, Sept 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the first phase of the nationwide Census 2027 has almost been completed across all states and Union Territories, with information on more than 32 crore families recorded so far, and described the census as a "national responsibility".
Addressing the 138th episode of his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', PM Modi highlighted the progress of the census exercise and urged citizens to participate in the process, stressing the importance of the exercise for the country.
The Prime Minister noted that the census exercise in Uttarakhand began from Mana village in Chamoli district, which is known as the country's first village.
"The first phase of the census has almost been completed in all states and union territories of the country. Information of more than 32 crore families has been recorded. The census is a national responsibility for all of us. The census in Uttarakhand began from Mana village in Chamoli. Mana is known as the country's first village,” PM Modi said.
Emphasising the importance of public participation in the exercise, the Prime Minister urged citizens to make time for the census and contribute to the compilation of information.
PM Modi added, “The census is a national responsibility for all of us. I had also urged the countrymen on August 15 to make sure to take out time for it..."
In Uttarakhand, the first phase of the census, the House-listing and Housing Census, was conducted across the entire state over 30 days, from April 25 to May 24, 2026. Prior to the door-to-door survey, a 15-day window from April 10 to April 24, 2026 was provided to the residents of the state for 'Self-Enumeration.'
Approximately 30,000 enumerators and supervisors were appointed in Uttarakhand for the House-listing and Housing Census operations. They conducted door-to-door enumeration across approximately 32,000 house-listing blocks.
The census exercise in Uttarakhand officially commenced on April 10, 2026, with the 'Self-Enumeration' of Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmit Singh. Self-Enumeration is a secure, web-based facility available in 16 regional languages, including Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
Earlier in August, the 15-day self-enumeration process as part of house-to-house population enumeration under Phase-II of the Census 2027 started in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Census 2027 is India's first digital census, with data collection being carried out through digital tools and an optional self-enumeration facility.
Population enumeration in these non-synchronous areas is being conducted from September 1 to September 30, 2026, followed by a five-day revision round from October 1 to October 5. Population enumeration in other states and Union Territories is scheduled for February 2027.
Phase II of the Census 2027 began in Ladakh and the snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand almost three days after the MHA notified a set of 40 questions instructing officers within the limits of the local area who were respectively appointed to ask all persons residing within such limits.
