Tech could help process Census data within 9 months; mobile apps to be used for count | India News

NEW DELHI: Final population data from Census 2027 may be available as early as the end of 2027, thanks to the ‘digital’ mode being introduced for capturing and processing datasets in the upcoming exercise.Sources in the govt indicated that unlike Census 2011 when it took almost a couple of years for the final population data to be published at the national, state, district and taluk levels, complete with the gender-wise break-up, govt estimates that the time lag between completion of Census in early March 2027 and release of final population data could be as little as nine months.

Govt had recently announced March 1, 2027, as the new reference date for the upcoming Census. Though due to start in 2020, the Covid pandemic forced the govt to put the decadal exercise on hold. Census enumerators to use app to collect data Census 2027 will be held in two phases – the house-listing phase in 2026, followed by population enumeration phase in Feb 2027.For the first time, Census data will be collected digitally, using mobile phone apps in 16 languages (Hindi, English and 14 regional languages). These apps are designed to be simple and user-friendly for both the enumerators and citizens, since the latter will also have the option to self-enumerate, the sources said. Enumerators will no longer have to carry bulky paper schedules to the field.With tech use, data to be ready instantlyThe Census schedules will contain mostly pre-coded responses. On the mobile apps, various options would be available from the dropdown menu. The apps provide a fetching facility to go to a pre-filled Census house record and permit editing the same. The applications will reduce the burden of preparing abstracts, summaries and duplication of other associated work. With the help of mobile apps and intelligent character recognition (ICR) data processing mostly used to organise unstructured data, the entire data will be instantly ready for processing without extra logistics of schedules.For the first time, a separate code directory will be provided for enabling easy data collection in respect of several questions asked in the second phase of Census (population enumeration). For questions involving descriptive/non-numeric entries, a separate code directory containing possible responses and codes for each possible answer has been prepared.In tune with digital census, a census management and monitoring system (CMMS) portal has been developed by the Office of RGI for smooth conduct, management and monitoring of the exercise.