Mumbai, April 30 (IANS) The self-enumeration phase of the Census will commence in Maharashtra from May 1, marking the start of India’s first fully digital population count exercise, officials said on Thursday.
At a press conference, Nirupama Dange, Chief Principal Census Officer and Director of Census Operations for Maharashtra, said that the exercise is part of a broader shift towards a digital governance system, with mobile applications and an online portal being deployed to ensure real-time data collection, improved accuracy, and efficient monitoring.
Citizens opting for self-enumeration have been advised to use only the official website https://se.census.gov.in and avoid responding to any SMS that does not contain the keyword “RGICEN”, officials said at a media interaction held on the eve of the exercise.
The self-enumeration process will be conducted from May 1 to May 15, 2026, followed by the house listing and housing Census from May 16 to June 14, 2026, during which enumerators will carry out door-to-door visits, preferably in the morning or evening hours, covering around eight to ten households on a daily basis.
Officials said that once individuals complete their online submission, an 11-digit unique identification number beginning with the letter ‘H’ will be generated, which must be carefully preserved and shared with enumerators during their visits for verification purposes.
To facilitate the Census exercise, the state has frozen the jurisdictional boundaries of districts, talukas, cities, and villages from January 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, with a gazette notification issued on July 15, 2025, formalising the decision.
Another notification to operationalise the Census activities was released on February 26, 2026, laying the groundwork for the implementation of the exercise. A workforce of around 2.64 lakh field personnel, including enumerators and supervisors along with 10 per cent reserve staff, will be deployed after undergoing structured training, officials said.
They added that a Census Monitoring and Management System portal will be used for large-scale supervision, coordination, and data handling during the exercise.
Enumeration will be carried out across both slum and non-slum areas using pre-defined maps, while migratory populations will be counted in their place of work under the de facto method, as per Census norms.
According to officials, Census entries are made at the household level and do not serve as legal documents or proof of identity. The follow-up phase involving ward-wise population counting will be conducted next year as part of the overall Census process.
–IANS
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