House-to-house field enumeration begins in J&K

Jammu, Jun 1: The 30-day field work period for conducting House Listing and Housing Census Operations (HLO) under phase-I of Census 2027 commenced in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, June 1, 2026.
Under phase-I, a 15-day self-enumeration window (from May 17 to 31, 2026) preceded the month-long house-to-house field-work (HLO), which would culminate on June 30, 2026.

Census 2027 is India’s first census being conducted fully through digital mode.
J&K has begun phase-I field work exercise (HLO) at a high note by scoring top slot among all the Union Territories (UTs) and bagging 8th place among states in the country in self-enumeration under Census 2027, with more than 6.67 lakh households voluntarily submitting their (census) details through the official (self-enumeration) portal.
The second phase of census, focussing on Population Enumeration (PE), including caste census, will commence in September 2026 for snow-bound areas and in February 2027 for rest of the regions in J&K.

These details were shared by Chief Principal Census Officer (CPCO) and Director Census Operations, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh Amit Sharma, joined by Director, PIB Jammu Neha Jalali, in a press conference here in Jammu on Monday.
CPCO termed the response to the self-enumeration phase highly encouraging, noting that 6,67,517 households in J&K and 7,009 households in Ladakh completed self-enumeration through the official portal before the start of field-work (House Listing Operations). He noted that enthusiastic participation was witnessed across all districts of Jammu and Kashmir, with districts such as Pulwama, Jammu and Kulgam recording particularly encouraging responses. He also appreciated the participation of residents from Leh and Kargil districts in Ladakh and thanked the district administrations, Principal Census Officers, field functionaries, media organisations and residents for contributing to the successful conduct of the self-enumeration phase.
Following the successful completion of the Self-Enumeration phase and the commencement of House Listing Operations (HLO) from today (June 1, 2026), Amit Sharma appealed to all residents of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to extend full cooperation to enumerators and supervisors visiting households during the month-long census exercise.

Highlighting the scale of preparations undertaken for Census 2027, he informed that house listing block demarcation and geo-tagging activities were virtually completed across both Union Territories with more than 23,600 house listing blocks demarcated in Jammu and Kashmir and 567 house listing blocks demarcated in Ladakh.
Similarly, extensive training programmes have been completed for master trainers, field trainers, enumerators and supervisors to ensure professional and uniform conduct of census operations across all districts and remote areas, he said.
CPCO shared that more than 27,000 census kits were already dispatched across Jammu and Kashmir and around 800 kits distributed in Ladakh, ensuring that field functionaries were fully equipped for the commencement of House Listing Operations (HLO).
Urging residents to cooperate with census officials, Amit Sharma said that House Listing Operations formed a key phase of census 2027 for collecting data on housing and living conditions and called for accurate information to support effective planning and welfare programmes.
He reassured residents that all information collected during census operations would remain completely confidential under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948 and would be used exclusively for statistical purposes. “Individual information is protected by law and cannot be shared with any agency or institution,” he clarified.

The Chief Principal Census Officer further informed that special arrangements were put in place for coverage of remote, border, tribal, migratory and nomadic populations so that no household or individual was left out of the Census exercise.
In her opening remarks, Director, PIB Jammu Neha Jalali reiterated that Census 2027 would be India’s first digital Census, featuring mobile-based data collection and caste enumeration, backed by strong institutional preparedness and robust data infrastructure. She further stated that house listing and housing operations involved collection of information on buildings, households, housing conditions, family composition and living arrangements to support informed policymaking and planning.

She highlighted the importance of public awareness and media participation in ensuring successful conduct of census operations. Neha Jalali appreciated the extensive outreach activities being undertaken across the two Union Territories and called upon media organisations to continue supporting dissemination of authentic information relating to Census 2027.
Deputy Chief Principal Census Officer, Manmeet Singh Loomba; Media and Communication Officer, PIB, ZakirNazeerwere also present on the occasion.
The Census, entirely a different exercise from Special Intensive Revision (SIR), is a comprehensive national exercise for collection of demographics, socio-economic and housing data of persons for policy planning and governance, conducted under Census Act 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990.
With regard to the digital aspect vis-a-vis census 2027, it has been specified that data collection on household amenities and assets will be carried out through mobile applications equipped with in-built validation checks.

A web-based Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) will enable real-time monitoring and efficient execution of census activities.
To ensure data security, stringent safeguards have been put in place, including end-to-end encryption, secure transmission protocols and ISO certified data centres designated as Critical Information Infrastructure, ensuring complete protection of personal information.
During HLO exercise, enumerators and supervisors will visit each household during the normal working hours within the notified period carrying valid Identity cards and appointment letters.

It is advisable that their credentials should be verified before sharing information.