The Maharashtra government will begin the self-enumeration phase of the Census from May 1, marking the rollout of India’s first fully digital population count, with citizens able to submit their details online as part of a technology-driven exercise, officials said on Thursday.
Nirupama Dange, Chief Principal Census Officer and Director of Census Operations for Maharashtra, said the initiative reflects a shift towards digital governance, with mobile applications and an online portal enabling real-time data collection and improved accuracy.
The self-enumeration window will remain open from May 1 to May 15. This will be followed by the house listing and housing census from May 16 to June 14, during which enumerators will conduct door-to-door visits, preferably in the morning or evening, covering around eight to ten households daily.
Officials advised citizens opting for self-enumeration to use only the official portal and avoid responding to unauthorised messages. They said any official communication would carry the keyword “RGICEN”.
Also read: Census 2027 to be India’s biggest, fully digital drive
Upon completion of online submission, individuals will receive an 11-digit unique identification number beginning with the letter “H”, which must be preserved and shared with enumerators during subsequent visits.
To facilitate the exercise, the state has frozen jurisdictional boundaries of districts, talukas, cities and villages from January 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, following a gazette notification issued on July 15, 2025. A separate notification operationalising Census activities was released on February 26, 2026.
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 training. The Census Monitoring and Management System portal will be used for supervision and large-scale data handling.
Enumeration will be conducted across both slum and non-slum areas using pre-defined maps, while migratory populations will be counted at their place of work under the de facto method.
Officials clarified that Census entries are recorded at the household level and do not constitute legal documents.
A follow-up phase involving ward-wise population enumeration is scheduled to be carried out next year.
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