Census self-enumeration kicks off today, house visit by 1.8L enumerators from Aug 16
Times of India | 1 August 2026
Kolkata: Around 1.8 lakh enumerators led by 30,000 supervisors will hit the streets and cover around 3.1 crore establishments after the first phase of Census 2027, which is set to begin from Saturday with an online self-enumeration process.
On Saturday, Bengal Governor R N Ravi and chief minister Suvendu Adhikari will be the first two residents of the state to submit their details through the optional self-enumeration portal, setting the stage for the statewide population count.
âBoth the governor and the chief minister will be the first in the state to furnish their Census details. The idea is to instil confidence among people and encourage them to participate in the self-enumeration process,â Census director Nikhil Pawan Kalyan told TOI.
âThe speaker, chief secretary, DGP and other ministers will also update their details in the portal on Saturday,â the official added.
Kalyan also sought to dispel concerns over documentation, stressing that no resident will be required to produce any document before Census officials. âThe Census is based on self-declaration. Enumerators will record whatever information the respondent provides at face value. No documentary proof is required for any of the particulars being collected,â he said, urging people to cooperate with Census functionaries.
The self-enumeration phase, which is optional, will continue till August 15. It will be followed by nearly a month of door-to-door visits by enumerators, who will verify the online entries and collect details from households that did not opt for self-enumeration.
In a bid to promote self-enumeration for digital census among residents, Kolkata Municipal Corporation has urged city schools to make their students âcensus prefectsâ. The students of classes VIII to XII will be assigned to encourage not only their parents but also their relatives, classmates and neighbours to opt for self-enumeration that will kick off from Saturday.
The civic body has sent the proposal of âcensus prefectsâ to about 1,000 city schools â 300 private and 700 govt-run schools, according to Smita Pandey, commissioner and administrator at KMC. Pandey said: âEach student is likely to generate self-enumeration awareness among at least 10 families. The students are being involved because they are tech-savvy. They can also do the self-enumeration of their families.â
Pandey stated that the KMC has also urged Credai, other trade bodies and advertisement associations to make their members opt for the self-enumeration procedure. âWe will kick-start the Census enumeration with solid waste management workers. For the Census, the cityâs 144 wards will have 8,105 house listing blocks,â said Pandey.