Census 2027 | Government launches 2 new apps for test phase amid digital push: All you need to know

Ahead of the trial phase of India's first digital Population Census in 2027, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India launched two specialised applications on Google Play Store and the App Store.

However, the two apps—Digital Layout Map (DLM) and Census 2027-Houselist—can only be downloaded by authorised Census personnel, as per a Hindu report.

This follows the launch of a portal (https://test.census.gov.in/se/) to be used in self-enumeration testing in selected areas from November 1-7. It allows citizens residing in those areas to submit their details online, prior to field visits by enumerators.

The Bengaluru Urban, Uttara Kannada, and Chamarajanagar districts in Karnataka are some areas selected to participate in the test phase "aimed at testing and refining digital systems for data collection", from November 10-30, the Centre said in a statement.

The test for the first phase, titled 'House Listing and Housing Operations' (HLO), involves 30 questions on housing amenities.

The data gathered during the 20-day test "will be purely for system evaluation purposes and will not form part of the official Census database", the statement added.

The DLM application

According to the description for the DLM app, it was intended to play a crucial role in the transformation from digitising paper records of House Listing Blocks (HLBs)—the primary unit of data collection—in previous censuses, to Census operations going fully digital.

The DLM app will record building coordinates (latitude and longitude for each structure), the names of localities, roads or streets, building numbers (if available; otherwise, temporary Census house numbers will be assigned by enumerators), building names (if available), building type (pucca or kutcha), building use (residential, partly residential, and non-residential), landmarks (mandatory), number of floors, and number of Census houses, the report said, adding that the app would replicate the traditional Census methodology, and would not collect personal information about the residents.

The Census 2027-Houselist application

The Census 2027-Houselist app also aims to expedite the data collection process.

According to the app's description, it was adopted "to enhance the speed, accuracy, and reliability of the house listing and housing census operations, laying a strong foundation for the upcoming population enumeration phase".

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