India has taken a step towards the biggest digital transformation in history. Census 2027 will be completely digital mode for the first time—no paper, no lengthy processes. Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told in Parliament that a special Digital Census Portal and Census App is being prepared for the census, through which data collection will be monitored in real time across the country. People will enter door-to-door data through the app on both Android and iOS, while citizens will get the opportunity for the first time to fill their information themselves through the online portal. This time new questions like place of birth, last residence, migration details, period of stay will be added to the census. The government believes that this will speed up data processing, reduce chances of mistakes and reports will be more accurate, fast and reliable than before. Digital census will give new direction to policy making, urban planning, migration tracking and socio-economic surveys. Listing and mapping of houses will take place in 2026, while the final census will take place in February-March 2027. This approach has already proven successful in countries like the US, UK, Ghana, and Kenya—and now India is also moving rapidly on the digital track.
