J&K Tops Union Territories in Census 2027 Self-Enumeration Amit Sharma Launches House Listing Operations, Seeks Public Cooperation to Enumerators and Supervisors

01 JUN 2026, Jammu : The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has emerged as the leading Union Territory and 8th among states in the country in Self-Enumeration under Census 2027, with more than 6.67 lakh households voluntarily submitting their Census details through the official Self-Enumeration portal. This was informed by Shri Amit Sharma, IAS, Chief Principal Census Officer and Director Census Operations, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh while addressing media here today.

Following the successful completion of the Self-Enumeration phase and the commencement of House Listing Operations (HLO) from today, Shri Amit Sharma appealed to all residents of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh to extend full cooperation to Enumerators and Supervisors visiting households during the month-long Census exercise.

Shri Amit Sharma termed the response to the Self-Enumeration phase highly encouraging, noting that 6,67,517 households in J&K and 7,009 households in Ladakh completed Self-Enumeration through the official portal before the start of House Listing Operations. He noted that enthusiastic participation was witnessed across all districts of Jammu & Kashmir, with districts such as Pulwama, Jammu and Kulgam recording particularly encouraging responses. He also appreciated the participation of residents from Leh and Kargil districts in Ladakh and thanked the district administrations, Principal Census Officers, field functionaries, media organisations and residents for contributing to the successful conduct of the Self-Enumeration phase.

Highlighting the scale of preparations undertaken for Census 2027, Shri Amit Sharma informed that House Listing Block demarcation and geo-tagging activities have been virtually completed across both Union Territories with more than 23,600 House Listing Blocks demarcated in Jammu & Kashmir and 567 House Listing Blocks demarcated in Ladakh. Similarly, extensive training programmes have been completed for Master Trainers, Field Trainers, Enumerators and Supervisors to ensure professional and uniform conduct of Census operations across all districts and remote areas.

He further informed that more than 27,000 Census kits have already been dispatched across Jammu & Kashmir and around 800 kits distributed in Ladakh, ensuring that field functionaries are fully equipped for the commencement of House Listing Operations.

Urging residents to cooperate with Census officials, Shri Sharma said House Listing Operations are a key phase of Census 2027 for collecting data on housing and living conditions, and called for accurate information to support effective planning and welfare programmes. He reassured residents that all information collected during Census operations remains completely confidential under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948, and is used exclusively for statistical purposes. He clarified that individual information is protected by law and cannot be shared with any agency or institution.

The Chief Principal Census Officer further informed that special arrangements have been put in place for coverage of remote, border, tribal, migratory and nomadic populations so that no household or individual is left out of the Census exercise.

In her opening remarks, Director, PIB Jammu Ms. Neha Jalali said that Census 2027 will be India’s first digital Census, featuring mobile-based data collection and caste enumeration, backed by strong institutional preparedness and robust data infrastructure. She further stated that Houselisting and Housing Operations involve collection of information on buildings, households, housing conditions, family composition and living arrangements to support informed policymaking and planning.

Ms. Jalali highlighted the importance of public awareness and media participation in ensuring successful conduct of Census operations. She appreciated the extensive outreach activities being undertaken across the two Union Territories and called upon media organisations to continue supporting dissemination of authentic information relating to Census 2027.

Deputy Chief Principal Census Officer, Shri Manmeet Singh Loomba; Media and Communication Officer, PIB, Shri Zakir Nazeer were also present on the occasion.