Self-enumeration passes first-day test as users complete Census forms in under 5 min
Times of India | 2 August 2026
Kolkata: The first day of the Census self-enumeration process passed off smoothly on Saturday, with most users completing the online questionnaire in under five minutes and reporting a hassle-free experience. Some respondents, however, encountered minor hiccups with the captcha and while pin-pointing their residence on the locator map.
Though the self-enumeration portal went live at midnight, Census directorate officials clarified that citizens can submit details only between 6 am and midnight. The remaining six hours have been reserved for system maintenance.
Users who completed the exercise said the six-page questionnaire was intuitive and easy to navigate. The only stages that required a little extra attention were entering two captcha codes during login and accurately marking the house location on the embedded Google Map before proceeding to the questionnaire. Once these steps were completed, the remaining pages could be filled in seamlessly.
“The process took me less than five minutes. The form is simple and self-explanatory. The only time I paused was while locating my house precisely on the map and entering the captchas,” said Puja Sengupta, a Kalikapur resident.
Another user, Souvik Basu of Behala, said: “I was expecting a lengthy govt form and a patchy website, but it was surprisingly smooth. The questions were simple, and the website worked without any glitches.”
A senior Census directorate official said the rollout remained trouble-free throughout the day.
“The self-enumeration process has been very smooth since morning. We have not received any reports of major technical issues. Users have been able to complete the process quickly, and the portal has been functioning as intended,” the official told TOI.
He clarified that any adult member of a household with access to a mobile can log on to the self-enumeration portal and fill in the form; it is not mandatory for the head of the household to do so.
“Reading the captcha may be challenging because it can be difficult to distinguish between upper- and lower-case letters. It has to be entered twice,” the official said.
On users reporting difficulty in locating homes on the map, the official said entering the address alone does not automatically place the red marker at the exact location. “Zoom into the locality and use nearby landmarks as reference points before zooming further to your house. Once the marker is correctly positioned, press the ‘confirm’ button after zooming in to the maximum level,” he said.
The optional self-enumeration facility is part of the first phase of the 2027 Census. Citizens who complete the online exercise will receive a unique Self-Enumeration (SE) ID, which they can present when enumerators visit their homes for verification later this month. Around 1.8 lakh enumerators and 30,000 supervisors are scheduled to begin door-to-door verification after the self-enumeration window closes.
The self-enumeration exercise for India’s 16th Census began in Bengal on Saturday, with chief minister Suvendu Adhikari digitally submitting his own details.
The first phase of the once-in-a-decade population survey will remain open from Aug 1 to Aug 15, during which residents can upload their details on the portal, se.census.gov.in. This will be followed by the house-listing phase from Aug 16 to Sept 14.
Describing it as the country’s first “100% digital” Census, Adhikari urged people across Bengal to participate in the exercise and cooperate with the authorities. “I urge every person across Bengal to cooperate with the authorities involved in the process and participate through self-enumeration in this Census,” he said.
Apart from CM Suvendu Adhikari, among other prominent personalities who completed the self-enumeration on Saturday were BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rathindra Bose, and ministers Dilip Ghosh and Agnimitra Paul.