Guwahati (Assam) [India], May 26 (ANI): Assam held a State-Level Conference of Principal Census Officers (PCOs) in Guwahati to review preparations for Census 2027 on Monday, which will be India’s first digital census exercise.
The conference, held at the Assam Administrative Staff College under the chairmanship of Ravi Kota, Chief Secretary of Assam, focused on preparations for Phase-I of Census 2027, namely the House-listing and Housing Census (HLO).
The programme was organised by the General Administration Department of the Assam government in association with the Directorate of Census Operations, Assam, under the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Senior officials, including Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, District Commissioners, Municipal Commissioners, Principal Census Officers and officers from the Directorate of Census Operations attended the conference.
Officials informed that Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases: House-listing and Housing Census (HLO) and Population Enumeration (PE). The first phase will focus on collecting data related to houses, housing conditions, household amenities and assets, while the second phase will involve population enumeration.
The Government of Assam has scheduled Phase-I operations from August 17 to September 15, 2026, while self-enumeration through the official portal will be available from August 2 to August 16, 2026.
Addressing the conference, Chief Secretary Ravi Kota stressed the importance of administrative coordination and public participation.
“He emphasised the importance of coordinated administrative efforts, public participation and timely preparedness for the successful conduct of Census 2027,” officials said.
Later speaking to reporters, Biswajit Pegu, Chief Principal Census Officer of Assam, said the conference focused on training and logistical planning for the massive exercise.
“Today, a state-level conference of our Assam state has been organised, in which our district commissioners, municipal corporation commissioners, and principal secretaries of autonomous councils have been called. It’s a full-day conference today, in which discussions will be held on the preparations for our Census 2027, how to train them, and how to make logistical arrangements for them,” Pegu said.
Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, highlighted the importance of the first phase of the census exercise.
“Today, a conference of Principal Census Officers who are district commissioners, municipal commissioners and principal secretaries and secretaries of autonomous hill councils has been conducted today under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, Assam,” Narayan said.
“As you know, the census is conducted in two phases. The first phase is called House-listing and Housing Census. So this is kind of the start of the preparation for the first phase of the census. And this first phase has to be completed by 30th September 2026. Then we’ll have the second phase in Feb 2027,” he added.
Officials said around 83,535 enumerators and supervisors, including reserve personnel, will be deployed for Phase-I operations across Assam. Training programmes for Master Trainers are scheduled from June 9 to June 12, while training of Field Trainers is expected to begin in the third week of June.
The data collected during the first phase is expected to help both the State and Central governments improve planning related to housing, infrastructure, drinking water, sanitation, electricity and digital connectivity, particularly in flood-prone, tribal and tea-garden areas of Assam.
The conference concluded with discussions on operational strategy, training of census personnel, digital infrastructure and public awareness campaigns for Census 2027. (ANI)
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