SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has successfully completed the first phase of Census 2027 — the House Listing Operations (HLO) — across the Union Territory, with the entire exercise carried out through 100 per cent digital data collection.
The milestone was announced during the 5th meeting of the Union Territory Level Census Coordination Committee (UTLCCC), chaired by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo.
Appreciating the efforts of the Directorate of Census Operations, district administrations, enumerators, supervisors and other field officials, the Chief Secretary said the timely completion of the first phase reflected strong coordination and preparedness at all levels.
He called upon all stakeholder departments to maintain the same momentum and extend full cooperation for the successful completion of the remaining phases of Census 2027.
During the meeting, Chief Principal Census Officer and Director, Census Operations, J&K and Ladakh, Amit Sharma, presented a detailed review of the exercise and briefed officials about the roadmap for the upcoming phases.
Sharma informed that the month-long House Listing Operations were carried out from June 1 to June 30, 2026, in a completely paperless and technology-driven manner. The operations were completed smoothly across all districts without any major technical issues.
Officials said 24,071 House Listing Blocks (HLBs) covering 295 Census Charges were created across Jammu and Kashmir for the exercise.
Ahead of the field operations, a large-scale training programme was conducted, during which 30 Master Trainers, 614 Field Trainers and 29,269 Enumerators and Supervisors, including reserve staff, were trained through 813 batches.
More than 27,000 digital Census kits were also distributed across the Union Territory to ensure smooth data collection, while additional equipment was kept available for emergencies.
Special focus was placed on covering migratory groups and populations living in difficult-to-reach areas to ensure that every household was included in the Census process.
The Chief Secretary also directed district administrations to ensure timely release of honorarium payments to Enumerators, Supervisors and other field functionaries within this month as per approved norms.
The meeting was informed that preparations will now begin for District Census Handbooks (DCHB), which will contain village and town-level demographic, socio-economic and infrastructure-related information. The field work for the publication is expected to be completed by October 2026.
Officials also reviewed arrangements for the second phase — Population Enumeration — in snow-bound and inaccessible areas, scheduled for September 2026. Training of officials and field staff will be completed by the end of August.
The Directorate informed that 1,103 villages and three municipal areas across 16 districts have been identified for advance Population Enumeration under Census 2027, compared to 546 villages during Census 2011, ensuring wider coverage of remote areas before winter.
The meeting was attended by senior officials, including Commissioner Secretary H&UDD, Commissioner Secretary Education, Director General Planning and officers from the Directorate of Census Operations.
