The Registrar General of India (RGI) has directed all states and Union territories to complete the appointment of census field personnel by 15 January 2026, marking a crucial preparatory step for the upcoming two-phase Census 2027.
In a recent circular, the RGI stressed that early identification and registration of field staff is essential for ensuring the smooth execution of the nationwide population count. States have been instructed to deploy enumerators and supervisors along with a mandatory 10 per cent reserve pool to manage any unforeseen contingencies.
Under the approved framework, each enumerator will be assigned to cover around 700–800 people, while one supervisor will oversee the work of six enumerators. In line with Census Rules, 1990, state government employees such as teachers and clerks may be appointed as enumerators, while supervisors will generally hold a higher designation.
The circular also clarified the administrative structure for the exercise. District collectors and district magistrates will serve as principal census officers in districts, divisional commissioners will manage operations at the divisional level, and municipal commissioners will lead the exercise in city corporations.
Approximately 30 lakh field workers will be mobilised for Census 2027, which will be conducted entirely through digital means and include a caste-based count, following approval by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs.
To support this transition, a dedicated digital platform — the Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) — has been launched. The system will be used to register census personnel, assign enumeration areas and monitor field progress in real time. States have been asked to ensure that all functionaries are registered with accurate details well ahead of the deadline.
The first phase of the census — House Listing and Housing Census — will be undertaken for 30 days between April and September 2026, depending on the convenience of individual states. Population Enumeration will be conducted nationwide in February 2027, with 00:00 hours on 1 March 2027 as the reference date. For Ladakh, snow-bound parts of Jammu and Kashmir, and the hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, enumeration will take place in September 2026 using a reference date of 00:00 hours on 1 October 2026.
With the clock ticking toward the January 15 deadline, the Centre has urged state governments and UT administrations to expedite appointments and complete registrations on the CMMS portal in order to ensure timely and efficient rollout of the country’s first fully digital census.
