Punjab has stepped up preparations for the second phase of Census 2027, with Chief Secretary KAP Sinha reviewing the state's operational readiness at a one-day conference of Principal Census Officers (PCOs) in Chandigarh on Monday.
The meeting brought together members of the State Level Census Coordination Committee (SLCCC), divisional commissioners and all PCOs, including deputy commissioners and municipal commissioners. Director of Census Operations, Punjab, Dr Navjot Khosa, welcomed the participants and outlined the preparations for the population enumeration exercise.
The review covered the finalisation of enumeration blocks, human resource planning, training and deployment, along with other operational requirements for Phase-II.
The Centre has notified that population enumeration in Punjab will be conducted from December 1, 2026, to January 4, 2027, following a self-enumeration window from November 16 to 30. A revisional round will be held from January 5 to 9, with January 5, 2027, serving as the reference date.
Officials told to prioritise census preparations
Addressing the conference, Sinha described the Census as one of the country's most significant national exercises, stressing its importance as a source of demographic and socio-economic information for governance, planning, policy formulation and delivery of public services.
He emphasised that successful implementation would require detailed administrative preparation and close coordination between departments. Sinha asked all Principal Census Officers to give the exercise the highest priority and ensure that preparations remain on schedule.
Khosa briefed officials on the Phase-II schedule and major operational requirements, including the arrangements needed for population enumeration, enumeration block finalisation, manpower, training and deployment.
Punjab had completed the first phase, covering house listing and housing census, between May 15 and June 13, 2026. The exercise covered all 23 districts and 14 municipal corporations, with 52,564 House Listing Blocks created for the operation.
Self-enumeration to precede door-to-door exercise
The population enumeration phase will begin with an online self-enumeration facility from November 16 to 30. This will be followed by door-to-door enumeration by field officials from December 1, 2026, to January 4, 2027.
The revisional round will take place from January 5 to 9, while the reference date for the exercise will be 00.00 hours on January 5, 2027. The schedule was formally notified by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India on September 5.
The second phase will use digital tools, including mobile applications and the self-enumeration portal. The Census exercise is also designed to allow real-time monitoring through the Census Management and Monitoring System.
The Phase-II population enumeration questionnaire contains 40 questions covering various demographic and socio-economic parameters.
Training and field deployment under review
The Punjab administration has been working on the deployment and training of the personnel who will conduct the population enumeration. Earlier preparations included finalising enumeration blocks and supervisors and enumerators, with officials directed to complete Phase-II preparations before November 10.
The state has also planned a cascading training structure involving master trainers, field trainers and more than 80,000 enumerators and supervisors to carry out the digital population enumeration.
The Census 2027 is the 16th Census of India and the eighth since Independence. The 2021 Census was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the November 16 self-enumeration window approaching, the Punjab administration is now focusing on finalising field arrangements, training personnel and ensuring coordination across departments for the population enumeration exercise.