Census phase 2 likely to accept half-filled forms

In the first phase of the census — involving housing and houselisting operations — those opting for self-enumeration were not able to submit the form with blank fields

NEW DELHI: Census authorities are considering allowing persons self-enumerating for the population enumeration phase of Census 2027 to submit a partially filled form online.In the first phase of the census – involving housing and houselisting operations – those opting for self-enumeration were not able to submit the form with blank fields. If any field was left blank – either accidentally or intentionally due to lack of clarity – the user could not advance to the submission window.Sources said that it was felt during discussions among census teams that this feature forced many to opt out of self-enumeration and rely on the enumerator’s visit to record their replies to the questionnaire.There is now a realisation that even a partially filled form, provided a minimum number of questions are answered, would help in easing the task of the enumerator. Besides, self-declared data tends to be more accurate and reliable.”Internal deliberations focused on why the self-enumeration option should not be made flexible, given that the data is to be entered digitally either by the respondent or the enumerator.

The census application anyway allows the enumerator to access the filled-up form and change any wrongly entered data. So why can’t he access a partially filled-up form and fill in the few remaining fields during the house visit, saving time and effort?” an officer told TOI.The population enumeration exercise is set to be conducted nationwide in Feb 2027. However, the exercise, as per convention, is advanced for select states/UTs like Ladakh, J&K, HP and Uttarakhand that become wholly or partially snow-bound in Feb. These areas will witness population enumeration from Sept 1 to 30, preceded by a self-enumeration window of Aug 17-30.