Amit Shah unveils mascots, launches four digital platforms for Census-2027

NEW DELHI: Union Home minister Amit Shah on Thursday soft-launched four digital platforms and unveiled the official mascots “Pragati” and “Vikas” for the upcoming Census-2027, marking a major step towards conducting India’s first fully digital census. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing developed the digital tools to support enumeration operations across the country. Senior officials, including the Union Home Secretary and the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, were present at the event in New Delhi.

The Central government had earlier notified its intent to conduct Census 2027 through a Gazette Notification on June 16, 2025, formally initiating the process. The world’s largest census operation, the nationwide exercise, will unfold in two phases. For the first time, the census will be conducted digitally and will also allow citizens the option of self-enumeration.

Two mascots—”Pragati”, representing a female enumerator, and “Vikas”, representing a male enumerator—were introduced as the friendly faces of Census 2027. The mascots symbolise equal participation of women and men in the national effort toward building a developed India by 2047. They will be used to communicate key messages and information about the census to citizens across the country.

Four digital tools were introduced to streamline the process. The Houselisting Block Creator (HLBC) Web Application will allow officers to digitally create houselisting blocks using satellite imagery for standardised geographic coverage. The HLO Mobile Application, compatible with Android and iOS devices and available in 16 regional languages, will enable enumerators to collect and upload houselisting data securely, eliminating traditional paperwork.

A Self-Enumeration Portal will allow eligible households to submit information online before field surveys and generate a unique Self-Enumeration ID for verification. The Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS) Portal will help authorities plan, manage and monitor census activities across administrative levels through a centralised dashboard.

More than 30 lakh enumerators, supervisors and officials will be engaged in Census 2027 to ensure complete nationwide coverage through door-to-door data collection using secure mobile applications.

The first phase—Houselisting and Housing Census—will take place between April 1 and September 30, 2026, while the second phase—Population Enumeration—will be conducted in February 2027. The reference date for most states and union territories will be March 1, 2027.