Shimla: A training workshop for officers and employees of Shimla district regarding House Listing and Housing Enumeration (HLO) under the first phase of the upcoming Census of India–2027 was inaugurated at Bachat Bhawan on Sunday.
The workshop, being conducted in two batches from March 1 to March 3 and March 5 to March 7, 2026, aims to prepare officials for the smooth implementation of census operations.
Director, Census Operations Directorate, Deep Shikha Sharma, stated that Census 2027 will be India’s first fully digital census. She informed that data collection will be carried out through mobile applications and web portals, making the process more transparent, efficient and time-bound.
She said that censuses in India are conducted every ten years. After the 2011 Census, the next enumeration was scheduled for 2021 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Census 2027 will now be conducted in two phases.
The first phase—House Listing and Housing Enumeration (HLO)—will be conducted in Himachal Pradesh from May 12 to June 11, 2026. The second phase is proposed for February 2027, while in snow-bound areas it will be completed in September 2026.
Sharma added that a self-enumeration facility will also be introduced. The self-enumeration portal will be activated 15 days prior to the scheduled date, allowing citizens to log in and submit their details online. A self-enumeration ID will be generated and later verified by the enumerator. At the field level, enumerators and supervisors will collect data using a mobile application.
Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap said that the census is not merely a population count but the foundation of nation-building. He described it as a measure of administrative credibility and transparency in governance, urging all officers and employees involved to perform their duties with honesty and adherence to established guidelines. He assured full administrative support for the successful completion of the exercise.
The Census of India is regarded as the largest single source of statistical data on various characteristics of the country’s population and one of the biggest administrative exercises globally. Census 2027 will be the 16th census since 1872 and the 8th since Independence. The last census was conducted in 2011.
In Census 2027, data will be collected through the Self-Enumeration Portal and mobile applications. Houselisting blocks will be created via the Houselisting Block Creator web portal, while monitoring and management will be conducted through the Census Management and Monitoring System portal.
Among those present at the workshop were ADM Protocol Jyoti Rana, Under Secretary GAD Promila Sharma, District Revenue Officer Narayan Singh Verma, along with SDMs, Census Officer, Additional District Census Officer, Sub-Divisional Census Officer, District Information Science Officer, Census Clerk, City Census Officer, Charge Officers and other officials.
