The government on Thursday notified the questionnaire for the first phase of Census 2027, which is set to begin in April. The notification includes 33 questions for the citizens, from basic house facilities to internet access.
In a gazette notification, Registrar General of India, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, listed the questions.
The questions during the survey include:
* Ownership status of the house, its use, the type of material used in flooring and roof, the number of rooms, and the sex of the head of the household.
* Further, the officials will ask basic queries about the use of the house, its condition, and the number of persons normally residing in the household.
* Information regarding the head of the household, like the name and sex, whether the head of the household belongs to the Scheduled Caste, the Scheduled Tribe or other communities, and the ownership status will also be noted.
* Basic facilities in the houses, like the main source of drinking water, main source of lighting, access to and type of latrine, wastewater outlet, availability of bathing facility, availability of kitchen and LPG and PNG connection and the main fuel used for cooking are also included.
* Also, information about radio and transistor, television, access to the Internet, gadgets like laptop, computer, telephone, mobile phone, smartphone, type of vehicle, main cereal consumed in the household and mobile number for census-related communication, will be collected.
The queries about the main cereal and details regarding the Internet are new additions.
The Census will be conducted in two phases – house-listing and housing census from April to September; and population enumeration in February 2027.
The Census, originally scheduled for 2021, was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While the data collection is targeted to conclude by March 1, 2027, officials stated that the final published data would take up to three years.