New Delhi, : In a historic leap for India’s data infrastructure, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a ₹11,718 crore budget for conducting the 2027 Census, which will be fully digital for the first time. The landmark decision includes self-enumeration through mobile apps, AI-driven data validation, blockchain-secured uploads, and GIS-based demographic mapping, promising faster, more transparent population insights.
Delayed since 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the next Census—scheduled for March 2027 in two phases—will cover 1.4 billion citizens across 640 districts, making it one of the world’s largest digital data-collection exercises.
A Technological Breakthrough for Governance
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the initiative aligns with India’s inclusive growth strategy, enhancing real-time datasets on:
Caste composition
Migration trends
Disability mapping
Rural-urban mobility
The Census will integrate Aadhaar authentication, geospatial tracking, and automated error detection, reducing manual discrepancies and administrative bottlenecks.
Registrar General of India (RGI) Vivek Aggarwal will lead the technology rollout, which includes drones to access remote and high-altitude regions such as Ladakh.
Modi: “Data Is Democracy’s Backbone”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the transformative potential of accurate, timely demographic data in shaping welfare schemes and future governance. The digitization push is expected to cut costs by nearly 30% compared to previous Census operations, reducing dependence on paper-based enumeration.
Privacy Concerns & Opposition’s Response
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi cautiously welcomed the initiative but warned of data privacy vulnerabilities, calling for strong legal safeguards following multiple data breach incidents since 2019.
Civil society groups and cybersecurity experts also flagged potential risks, citing the increasing frequency of cyberattacks on government infrastructure.
Bridging Digital Gaps
One of the major implementation hurdles lies in India’s digital divide. In rural areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, nearly 45% of residents lack smartphones, prompting the government to set up Census community centers to ensure universal participation.
Special enumerators will be deployed to support women and SC/ST households, reinforcing equitable access.
Economic and Policy Impact
Economists at NITI Aayog project that a richer, more accurate Census dataset could:
Boost GDP through targeted welfare distribution
Reduce scheme leakages by up to 15%
Enable 20% faster policy rollout for key programs such as PM-KISAN and Ayushman Bharat
The Census findings will directly influence delimitation, administrative planning, welfare budgets, and even the 2031 general election framework, underscoring its deep political significance.
A Historic Moment for Digital India
Trending under #Census2027, the announcement collected over 500,000 interactions across social media, signaling wide public interest. As India advances toward its Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, the 16th Census since 1872 marks a decisive step in modernizing how the country counts, governs, and plans for its 1.4 billion citizens.
While the digital transformation offers unprecedented accuracy and speed, experts stress that cybersecurity and data ethics must remain top priorities to safeguard the integrity of the process.
