Odisha Census to Begin in April, Population Count in 2027

Bhubaneswar: The population census in Odisha will be carried out in two phases, with the first phase scheduled to begin in April and the second phase set to commence from February 2027, Director of Census Operations in Odisha, Nikhil Pavan Kalyan, said on Wednesday.

During the first phase, a house-listing operation will be undertaken across the state. This will involve marking of houses and collection of data related to households and their assets. The second phase will consist of a door-to-door population census, during which detailed demographic information of individuals will be recorded.

To carry out the massive exercise, nearly one lakh census enumerators will be deployed across Odisha. Each enumerator will be assigned around 200 households, while one supervisor will monitor the work of six enumerators. Enumerators will receive a financial incentive of ₹25,000 for their services.

Preparations for the census have been underway for the past six months. Pre-test surveys have already been conducted in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, while the boundaries of newly declared Notified Area Councils (NACs) and municipalities have been finalised. Census officials will undergo structured training over the next three months to ensure the smooth execution of the exercise.

Ahead of the census, the Development Commissioner held consultations with all district collectors. A state-level Census Coordination Committee meeting was also convened at Lok Seva Bhawan under the chairmanship of the Development Commissioner, and was attended by the Census Director and other senior officials. The entire process will be closely monitored at senior levels to ensure accuracy and efficiency.

The census will largely be conducted in digital mode, with around 90 per cent of data collection expected to be online. Citizens will also have the option of self-enumeration by registering on the official census website through an OTP-based mobile verification system. To ensure data security, each mobile number can be used only once and features such as screenshots within the app will be disabled.