PANAJI
Ahead of the country's largest enumeration exercise, the Census 2027, a month-long pre-test Census is likely to commence from November 6 in Goa. The Directorate of Census Operations (DCO) has identified Corgao village in Pernem taluka and Margao municipal area in Salcete for pre-test census.
Officials at DCO-Goa confirmed that the pre-test is tentatively scheduled from November 6 to December 6; however, for official announcement, it is awaiting notification from the Centre.
Officials said that it has identified Corgao village in Pernem taluka and Margao municipal area in Salcete, wherein almost 27 teachers and government servants would be roped in as enumerators and supervisors to carry out the enumeration.
“This is going to be the first-ever digital and self-enumeration census,” officials said, explaining that the enumerators will collect data of citizens using mobile applications.
For self-enumeration, DCO informed that the Census authority will launch a special dedicated web portal, which will be available for both phases of the enumeration exercise.
“Our inbound staffers are currently in Delhi for a pre-test training programme, who will then train the enumerators, back in Goa,” official said, adding that a formal communication has been sent to the State government detailing out the requirement of total staff for pre-test exercise.
DCO said that the pre-test process will serve as a trial for testing and refining all aspects of the Census operations. “The pre-test, a crucial process before every Census, will focus on various practical issues that may crop up including those faced in remote areas with less connectivity to check whether mobile devices work properly,” officials said.
Officials said that the crucial exercise is being done for evaluating the proposed questions, data collection methodologies, training effectiveness, logistics, printing processes, data quality assessment, identifying potential field issues, etc.
The union government has said the Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, along with the enumeration of castes. The first is house-listing operations, which involves creating a comprehensive list of all buildings, structures, and housing units across the state, which will be in the month of April-September 2026. The second phase is population enumeration – that is the headcount of the population. This will take place in February 2027 onwards.
