– 16-04-2026 Houselisting operations under Census 2027 begin in NDMC area in Delhi on Thursday___________ TARUN RAWAT
New Delhi: Braving the afternoon heat, Yamini Dawas, an NDMC school teacher, steps into the staff quarters of Bikaner House, close to India Gate, in New Delhi district. Dressed in a bright red suit and a ‘Census of India 2027’ bag slung over her shoulder, she holds up her mobile phone — a key tool for the exercise.As she nears the residential block, the screen of her phone lights up and she starts her assignment – ground-truthing, or on-ground verification versus what is recorded in official maps provided to her and nearly 570 other teachers for houselisting work across the district.Moving past the main building, Dawas heads toward a modest asbestos-roofed structure tucked behind the sprawling complex. The enumerator pauses at the mesh door and then knocks gently.
After a moment, a woman in her 30s peeks through the mesh, a little unsettled by the presence of an unexpected guest.“Kahan se aaye hain? (Where have you come from?)” she asks.Sensing her hesitation, Yamini offers quick reassurance: “Census ke liye aaye hain, janganana ke liye. Aap bahar aa jaiye (We are here to conduct the census. Please come out).”The woman retreats inside for a few seconds.Another census enumerator who accompanied Dawas said, “Thoda sa comfortable karna padega. Log ghabra jaate hain ek dum dekh ke (We will have to make them comfortable. People get nervous when they see someone turning up suddenly).”
The woman returns. “I am Santosh Tanwar,” she says.Yamini patiently explains the purpose of the Census, stressing their data is protected and safe with govt. Gradually, as the tension eases, the enumerator starts asking a series of questions — about the house, its occupants and available amenities — and making entries in an app on her mobile phone. There are also queries about the number of rooms in the house and the use of LPG cylinders.On Thursday, the first day of houselisting operations for Census 2027 in New Delhi district, the field enumerators fanned out across the area. “Most of the enumerators will conduct ground-truthing and mapping in the first three days, after which full-scale enumeration work will begin,” said New Delhi DM Sunny Kumar Singh.In the coming days, the enumerators will go door to door in their assigned areas, with each expected to cover about 200 houses and complete the task before the May 15 deadline.
The work will lay the foundation for one of the country’s most extensive data collection exercises.New Delhi district has nearly 85,000 households, all of which will be marked by the enumerators during the house-listing exercise. The district administration has divided the NDMC and Delhi Cantonment areas into 473 houselisting blocks. Each block has 180-200 houses.During the exercise, the enumerators will verify the houselisting block boundary, identify roads or landmarks and check numbering of buildings so that the enumeration is done systematically and no house is left behind, Singh said, adding, “Senior officials are supervising the process, and the work is going on smoothly.”Before setting out, a group of supervisors and their seniors visited the New Delhi DM’s office for briefing. “Most of the enumerators are govt teachers, and they have to do the work after school hours, which is a challenge,” a supervisor told TOI.An identity card establishing that they are on Census work hanging around their neck, each enumerator carries a bag with a diary, water bottle and a cap. “We have to mark each house after enumeration is completed,” said one of the enumerators.The enumerators will ask 33 questions covering various parameters, such as building and house numbers, structural aspects like floor, wall and roof materials, and household-level data, including the number of residents and the socio-economic category.Govt plans to start self-enumeration for all 250 MCD wards from May 1 and the houselisting operation from May 16.
