Country divided into 24.25 lakh house-listing blocks for Census 2027:Each to have 150-200 homes, one enumerator to count about 800 people

India has completed its biggest digital exercise so far for Census 2027. The country has mapped 24.25 lakh Houselisting Blocks (HLBs) using specialised software. This means that every neighbourhood, village and slum across India now has a digital address. In simple terms, each block will contain 150-200 households and cover 800 people. These blocks will form the foundation of the census. Registrar General of India (RGI) and Census Commissioner Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan provided this information in a letter sent to all states. The mapping was carried out across the country. The houselisting operation has been completed in all states and Union territories except Manipur. In the second phase of the census, enumeration blocks will be created on the basis of these blocks. The population count will then begin. Digital mapping carried out using software The Registrar General of India used the auxiliary application of the Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS). CMMS is specialised software developed to monitor the census in near real time. Census Commissioner Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said extensive digital mapping was carried out during the house-listing phase. Digital boundaries were defined for around 24.25 lakh house-listing blocks through the House-Listing Block Creator (HLBC) web mapping application. This created a comprehensive geospatial framework for the entire country for Census 2027. Census to be conducted in two phases Each house-listing block in the House-Listing and Housing Census will generally be made an enumeration block for the Population Enumeration. The census will be conducted in two phases. The first phase is the House-Listing and Housing Census. The second phase is the Population Enumeration. The first phase of Census 2027 is the house-listing operation. It has been completed in all states and Union territories except Manipur. Boundaries to be revised before the second phase Population enumeration will soon begin in the second phase across the remaining areas, except Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, the snowbound and non-synchronous areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and Manipur. In a letter sent to all states and Union territories, Narayan said that certain mapping activities were necessary before the population enumeration began. These include revising the boundaries of administrative units, if there are any errors, and resolving overlaps between house-listing blocks. It is also necessary to include populated areas that were left out. House-listing blocks with a heavy workload will be divided into smaller sub-enumeration blocks. Maps of supervisory circles will also be prepared. Narayan described completing these tasks on time as extremely important. He said this would ensure complete geographical coverage of populated areas in the enumeration blocks. There would be no possibility of any area being left out or included twice. Population count to be conducted at different times in some areas Population counting will take place in all areas except the snowy regions of Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand from 1 December 2026 to 4 January 2027. The schedule has been set because of assembly elections in these states. According to a notification issued by the Registrar General of India last month, the house-listing operation has been postponed in Manipur. The process has already been completed from 1 to 30 September in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, as well as in the snowy non-synchronous areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The population census in the rest of the country will be conducted from 25 January 2027 to 28 February 2027. 2021 Census was postponed because of coronavirus The decennial census was scheduled to be held in 2021. It was postponed because of coronavirus infections. The Union Cabinet has approved ₹11,718 crore for conducting the census. This will be the largest population count ever conducted in the country. ​