Patna: The district administration has started finalising preparations for Census 2027 in Patna. On the directions of the District Magistrate-cum-Principal Census Officer, the Census Cell and the District Level Census Coordination Committee (DLCCC) were constituted on Tuesday.
The administration has sought the names, designations and mobile numbers of responsible officers from all blocks, subdivisions, district offices, municipal bodies and other institutions within three days. These details will be forwarded to the Census Directorate and the Office of the Registrar General of India. The Census 2027 will be the eighth census after Independence and the third of the current millennium. Population data will be finalised based on the status as of midnight on March 1, 2027.
DDC Appointed Senior Nodal Officer
District Magistrate Dr Thiyagarajan SM has assigned the responsibility of Senior Nodal Officer-cum-District Census Officer to Deputy Development Commissioner Shrikant Kundalik Khandekar. Additional District Census Officer-cum-District Planning Officer Vidur Bharti has been appointed as the nodal officer of the Census Cell.
The cell will have seven more members who will coordinate with the District Census Officer and other officials to support implementation. The Census Cell has been set up on the first floor of the District Development Building, opposite the District Planning Office.
The District Level Census Coordination Committee will be chaired by the DM, with Vidur Bharti as the member convener. Members include the DDC, District Education Officer, District Panchayati Raj Officer, District Statistical Officer and District Information and Public Relations Officer. The committee will guide, coordinate and monitor all census-related work.
Charge Census Officers Told to Submit Details
The district administration has instructed charge census officers at the levels of municipal corporations, municipal councils, nagar panchayats, subdivisions and blocks to submit the names and mobile numbers of designated census officers in the prescribed format within three days.
At the district level, officers nominated by the Census Directorate will be trained as master trainers. These trainers will then train subdivision, block and field-level enumerators to ensure error-free data collection.
In municipal corporation areas, the Municipal Commissioner or Additional Municipal Commissioner will serve as the Census Officer. Separate Census Officers will be appointed for municipal councils, nagar panchayats, notified area committees and cantonment boards. All officers will be responsible for census work in their respective jurisdictions.
Census a National Duty, Cooperation Mandatory
The DM said the census is a national responsibility and must be completed in a timely, transparent and error-free manner. Under the Census Act, 1948, cooperation in census work is legally mandatory. Refusal to assist or obstruction can attract a fine of up to ₹1,000 or imprisonment of up to three years.
House Listing from April 1, 2026
Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases.
• Phase 1: House listing and housing census from April 1 to September 2026
• Phase 2: Population enumeration from February 9 to February 28, 2027
Enumerators will go door to door to fill in details in the household schedule. A revision round will be conducted from March 1 to March 5, 2027, to record changes due to birth, death or migration. March 1, 2027, will be the reference date for the census.
First Fully Digital Census
For the first time, Census 2027 will be conducted entirely in digital mode. Data will be collected through a mobile application, and the Census Monitoring and Management System (CMMS) portal will be used to monitor different stages.
As per the directions of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, a pilot study has already been successfully conducted in Sonpur (Saran), Rajauli (Nawada) and Dumra (Sitamarhi). In these areas, all enumerators opted to record data using the mobile mode.
