NEW DELHI: Ahead of start of Census 2027 on April 1, home minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched four digital tools for the country’s first ever digital Census and unveiled the two Census mascots — ‘Pragati’, a female enumerator and ‘Vikas’, her male counterpart. The four digital platforms include a self-enumeration portal that will allow respondents, in yet another first, to submit their household information online during the 15 days before start of field operations in their respective state/UT. They can self-enumerate in 16 languages. The mascots ‘Pragati’ and ‘Vikas’ will serve as friendly, relatable faces of Census-2027, while also symbolising the equal participation of women and men in fulfilling the resolve to make India a developed nation by 2047, the home ministry said in a statement. Through these mascots, information, objectives, and key messages related to Census 2027 will be disseminated in an effective and citizen-friendly manner across diverse sections of society.The four advanced digital platforms soft-launched by Shah on Thursday were developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). They include the houselisting block creator (HLBC) application, houselisting operations (HLO) mobile application, self-enumeration portal and the census management and monitoring system portal (CMMS).This calibrated adoption of technology combines innovation with inclusivity, ensuring that Census 2027 remains accurate, secure and comprehensive, said a home ministry spokesperson.HLBC is a web-map application that enables the charge officers to digitally create houselisting blocks, using satellite imagery, to ensure standardised, geographic coverage across the country. HLO is a secure, offline mobile application for enumerators to collect and upload houselisting data. It enables direct field-to-server data transmission, eliminating traditional paperwork. All houselisting data will be collected through this app, which can only be operated using registered mobile numbers. The application is compatible with android and iOS platforms and can be operated in 16 regional languages.The self-enumeration portal is a secure web-based facility that allows eligible respondents within a household to submit their household information online in the 15 days before start of field operations. Upon successful submission, a unique self-enumeration ID (SE ID) will be generated. This SE ID will be shared with the enumerator on the basis of which they will be able to verify the information. The CMMS portal is a centralized, web-based digital platform designed to plan, manage, execute, and monitor all census-related activities across administrative levels. Officers at sub-district, district, and state levels can track enumeration progress, field performance, and operational readiness in real-time through an integrated dashboard.Census data will be collected using the secure mobile applications and by going door-to-door. Complete coverage will be ensured by engaging 30 lakh enumerators, supervisors and other Census officials across the country.Several senior officials, including the Union Home Secretary and the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, were present at launch of the Census 2027 mascots and digital platforms..The Centre had notified its intent to conduct Census 2027 on June 16, 2025, more than five years after the decennial exercise was put on hold in 2020 on account of Covid pandemic. Census-2027, to be conducted in 2 phases, is the world’s largest census exercise. While the first phase of census, housing and houselisting, will be conducted between April 1 and Sept 30, 2026, with states free to choose a 45-day period within this six-month timeframe, the population enumeration phase is likely to be conducted in Feb 2027. During Phase 1, data on housing conditions and household amenities will be collected while Phase 2 will record demographic, social, and economic particulars of every person in the country..The reference date for Census 2027 will be 00:00hours of March 1, 2027 for all states and Union territories, except for the UT of Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, where the reference date will be 00:00 hours of Oct 1, 2026.