New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has released the official questionnaire for Phase I of Census 2027, covering the Houselisting and Housing Census.
The 33-item questionnaire will guide census officials in collecting data from households across India.
The key questions that will be asked include: building and house numbers, materials used in floors, walls, and roofs, condition and use of the house, household size, ownership status, number of dwelling rooms, head of household details such as name, gender, social category, access to drinking water, electricity, latrine, kitchen, cooking fuel, household appliances, vehicles, main cereal consumed, and mobile number for census-related communications.
Full list of questions in Census 2027 phase I
1. Building number (Municipal or local authority or census number)
2. Census house member
3. Predominant material of floor of the census house
4. Predominant material of the wall of the census house
5. Predominant material of the roof of the census house
6. Ascertain use of census house
7. Condition of the census house
8. Household number
9. Total number of persons normally residing in the household.
10. Name of the head of the household
11. Sex of the head of the household
12. Whether the head of the household belongs to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Other
13. Ownership status of the census house
14. Number of dwelling rooms exclusively in possession of the household
15. Number of married couple(s) living in the household
16. Main source of drinking water.
17. Availability of drinking water source
18. Main source of lighting
19. Access to latrine
20. Type of latrine
21. Waste water outlet
22. Availability of bathing facility.
23. Availability of kitchen and LPG/PNG connection
24. Main fuel used for cooking
25. Radio/Transistor
26. Television
27. Access to the internet
28. Laptop/Computer
29. Telephone/Mobile Phone/Smartphone
30. Bicycle/Scooter/Motorcycle/Moped
31. Car/Jeep/Van
32. Main Cereal consumed in the household
33. Mobile Number (for census-related communications only)
What this means for citizens
Exercising powers under Section 8(1) of the Census Act, 1948, the Central Government has superseded the 2020 notification, while ensuring actions already taken remain valid. Census officers will visit households in their respective areas to collect the data using the structured Houselisting and Housing Census schedule.
The information collected will help the government better understand housing conditions, household facilities, demographic patterns, and living standards across India, aiding planning and policy-making for the next decade.