Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the first phase of Census 2027 on Thursday, under the theme “Hamari Janaganana, Hamara Vikas”, at his official residence in Lucknow. The first phase, running from May 7 to May 21, will allow citizens to self-enumerate online before enumerators begin door-to-door verification across Uttar Pradesh.

The census marks the beginning of India’s first digital census, which the State government said would support data-driven planning and welfare delivery.

Mr. Adityanath said the census was “not merely a count of population, but a strong foundation for holistic, inclusive and well-planned development”. He added that accurate census data would help improve the implementation of infrastructure, education, healthcare, social security and welfare schemes.

The second phase of the census will involve the enumeration of individuals and will include caste enumeration, with forest villages also being covered for the first time. Around 5.47 lakh personnel have been deployed for the exercise, including 4.5 lakh enumerators, 85,000 supervisors and 12,000 State and district-level officers.

The Chief Minister urged residents to participate actively in the exercise, describing the census as a national responsibility aimed at ensuring that “the last person in society also becomes an equal participant in the stream of development”. The census operations will be conducted across Uttar Pradesh’s 18 divisions, 75 districts, 350 tehsils, 17 municipal corporations, 745 urban local bodies, 21 cantonment boards, 57,694 gram panchayats and nearly 1.04 lakh revenue villages. The next phase of the census will commence after the completion of the first phase, with the enumeration of individuals scheduled to begin soon.