Collection of district-level infra data to begin after Census phase 1 completion

New Delhi: Two months after the first phase of the Census gets over, local bodies’ government officials will collect granular data on civic amenities across 784 districts to come up with the country’s District Census Handbook, or DCHB, containing a comprehensive record of civic infrastructure at the village and town level.

In a letter to all states and Union Territories, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, has asked them to commence the fieldwork for the handbook two months after the completion of the first phase of the Census 2027 -- the Houselisting and Housing Census -- and to complete it within 30 days.

The handbook records schools, hospitals, drainage systems, electricity connections, roads, banks and dozens of other amenities, noting not only whether a facility exists but how far residents must travel if it does not.

Published continuously since the first population census conducted after independence in 1951, the handbook will see a significant methodological shift. For the first time, the data shall be collected through a mobile application rather than paper schedules, which were used in every previous round.

“The DCHB forms an integral part of the Census Operations and is prepared separately for each district. It presents key demographic and socio-economic characteristics, along with detailed information on the availability of civic amenities and infrastructural facilities for every village and town in the district,” it said.

The handbook is prepared separately for each of the country’s 784 districts, making it a thorough record of the civic infrastructure of each village and town.

“The reference date for the collection of DCHB data for 784 districts shall be 31-12-2025, and the information for villages and towns shall reflect their status as of that date,” it said.

The data is collected in two parts: a Village and Town Directory, and a Primary Census Abstract by field functionaries -- patwaris, panchayat secretaries, and village development officers -- in rural areas.

The Village Directory will collate data in nine fields, comprising educational and medical facilities, water and sanitation, transport and communication, banking and credit, electricity supply, land utilisation and irrigation, principal agricultural commodities, and manufactures and handicrafts.