Census 2027: Ministers, MLAs among first in Gujarat to complete self-enumeration process
Ahmedabad, May 18
The digital self-enumeration process under the Census-2027 exercise has commenced across Gujarat, marking the beginning of the first phase of India's next population census through an online citizen participation model.
The Central government has introduced the Self-Enumeration (SE) facility as part of the Census-2027 framework, allowing households to submit demographic and housing details through the official portal before the door-to-door enumeration begins.
The facility is open in Gujarat from May 17 to 31, followed by field-level verification and data collection in June.
On Sunday, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel formally aligned the state's participation with the national rollout by completing his family details through the online system from Gandhinagar at the start of the exercise.
According to officials, the Chief Minister described the initiative as part of strengthening digital governance and improving efficiency in large-scale public data collection systems.
The Census Directorate has stated that Self-Enumeration allows citizens to voluntarily submit details on housing, amenities, and household composition in a secure online environment, with data later verified during physical enumeration.
The exercise is being implemented through the official census portal, which provides multilingual and mobile-compatible access to residents across the state.
In Ahmedabad, the City Census Department under the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation coordinated the participation of elected representatives and public officials to encourage adoption of the digital process.
Several ministers, MLAs, former ministers and councillors submitted their details through the portal as part of the initial phase.
Participants included Minister of State for Urban Development, Darshana Vaghela; MLAs Amul Bhatt (Maninagar), Kanchan Radadiya (Thakkarbapanagar), Amit Thakar (Vejalpur), Amit Shah (Ellisbridge), Dr Payal Kukani (Naroda), Dr Hasmukh Patel (Amraiwadi), Bhikhu Patel (Naranpura) and Dr Harshad Patel (Sabarmati).
Former ministers Gordhan Zadafia and Dilip Parmar, along with several ward councillors, also completed their self-enumeration.
The Census authorities have said that the initiative is designed to improve accuracy and reduce field workload by allowing citizens to enter verified information in advance.
The system generates a Self-Enumeration ID (SE ID), which will be used during the subsequent household visit phase for confirmation and final submission.
According to the official schedule, the self-enumeration window in Gujarat will close on May 31.
The House Listing and Housing Census field operations will then be conducted from June 1 to 30, during which enumerators will visit households across the state.
Citizens will be required to provide their SE ID for verification during these visits. The exercise will be conducted in two phases nationwide, with the first phase covering housing and household data collection and the second phase scheduled for population enumeration in 2027.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Good initiative, but I'm skeptical about data privacy. 😟 The government says it's 'secure', but we've seen breaches before. Also, asking MLAs and ministers to do it first is just PR—why not focus on making the system accessible to everyone, especially in villages where digital literacy is low? The real test will be in June when enumerators go door-to-door and find many people haven't filled anything online.
Finally, some progress! 🎉 No more filling out lengthy forms in person or dealing with enumerators who don't show up. The multilingual portal is a great idea. But I hope they've included options for joint families and tenant arrangements—those can get complicated. Also, what if someone makes a mistake? Is there an editing option before final submission?
I appreciate the move towards digital governance, but why stop at census? We need similar digitization for property tax, passports, and more. However, let's be real—many elderly people in my family don't even have smartphones. Forcing everyone to self-enumerate might exclude vulnerable populations. The government should have helplines and community centers to assist those who can't use the portal.
Living in Gujarat as an expat, I find this initiative impressive. The self-enumeration feature reduces paper waste and improves accuracy. But I'm curious—will the data be used for policy decisions or just stored? Also, the deadline of May 31 seems tight for a state as diverse as Gujarat. Hoping the process is smooth and that privacy concerns are addressed.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.