Maharashtra Begins Early Planning for Landmark 2027 Digital Census

The Maharashtra government has begun preparations for the 2027 Census as political parties also prepare for elections to 29 municipal corporations. The government issued a resolution on Tuesday, December 23, outlining the administrative structure for the census across the state.

All municipal commissioners and district collectors will act as primary census officers during the census. Divisional commissioners will function as divisional census officers for each of the six revenue divisions in the state.

In Mumbai, a separate arrangement has been made. The Mumbai city and suburban district collectors will not take part in the census process. Instead, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner will act as the Principal Census Officer for Mumbai. The additional municipal commissioner of the BMC will serve as the additional senior officer for census work.

The government has talked about the need for strict and effective implementation. The entire census exercise will be conducted digitally across the country for the first time. A special smartphone application has been made for saving data during the enumeration process.

At the district level, residential deputy collectors will be District Census Officers. They will assist the district collectors and closely supervise census activities. Additional or deputy district census officers will also be appointed from within the respective districts.

Tahsildars have been designated as Charge Census Officers. Sub-divisional officers will serve as sub-divisional census officers. In municipal areas, assistant municipal commissioners will oversee census work in their respective zones and divisions as charge census officers. Deputy municipal commissioners of the 29 municipal corporations will act as city census officers.

District collectors and civic chiefs will be required to present monthly reports on census-related activities. These reports will be sent to their respective divisional commissioners. Copies will also be sent to the Director of Census Operations and the General Administration Department at Mantralaya.