In a first, private technical staff will be engaged to assist government officials during the Census enabling the “release of Census data in the shortest possible time”, sources said.
The Population Census 2027, the first phase of which will begin on April 1 and conclude on September 30, will be the first-ever digital census in the country where the enumerators, mostly government schoolteachers, will capture details through mobile applications on their personal phones.
Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI) Mritunjay Kumar Narayan has written to State governments that, with the introduction of many new initiatives like data collection through mobile applications, the use of the Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS), the Houselisting Block Creator (HLBC) web application, self-enumeration portal, etc., the Census of India 2027 will be technologically intensive with a “target to get the digitised data from the field itself”.
The letter added that assistance in terms of hired technical manpower would be provided to assist Census officials.
In addition to this, Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) for office assistance would be provided at the State and district levels. “The manpower will be hired for a maximum period of 18 months starting from January 2026,” the RG&CCI said.
The State governments have been asked to ensure that the hired personnel are suitably qualified to handle the digital applications and other related work.
Remuneration set
“The maximum monthly remuneration for Technical Assistant will be ₹25,000 per month and for MTS ₹18,000 per month. Apart from this amount, no other financial assistance with respect to the manpower will be provided by the Government of India. Further, this assistance, being provided to States/Union Territories for the work of Census 2027, is for a maximum period of 18 months. Thereafter, this assistance will automatically cease to exist and there shall be no liability of the Government of India on this account either financially or otherwise,” the letter said.
The RG&CCI said that the engagement of manpower will be “purely on short-term contractual basis” and the staff will not be entitled to any claims, rights, interests or further benefits in terms of regularisation or consideration of further appointment to any post, including any claims for any casual, ad hoс, temporary or regular service in the government.
Hiring would be done through an outsourcing agency only and not by direct appointment. “All payments be made through outsourcing agency to the hired manpower. Retired government officials may also be considered subject to meeting the suitability for the work,” the letter added.
The RG&CCI has approved four Technical Assistants and two MTS at the State level; two Technical Assistants and one MTS at the district level; two Technical Assistants and one MTS at Municipal Corporations (where a Principal Census Officer is appointed); and one Technical Assistant at the Charge (tehsil) level.
There are more than 700 districts in the country.
Around 31 lakh enumerators, who will all be government officials, will be engaged for the Census related field work and they will be paid an honorarium of ₹25,000 each. Each enumerator has to survey 750-800 people. The honorarium for other Census officers, including nodal officers and clerks, range from ₹30,000 to ₹75,000 each.
On December 12, 2025, the Union Cabinet approved the proposal for conducting the Census of India 2027 at a cost of ₹11,718.24 crore, up from ₹8,754.23 crore approved in 2019 for conducting the Census of India 2021. Census 2021, which was initially delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, could never take off. Census data is being collected after a gap of six years; the last time the Census was done in the country was in 2011.
States are also being provided with a one-time grant for procurement of hardware and software, such as computers, printers, UPS, Internet devices, computer tables and chairs, etc. At the State level, ₹10 lakh each has been sanctioned for IT infrastructure, hiring of vehicles and contingency measures. At the tehsil and district levels, this amount ranges from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh for all the three categories.
Published – January 27, 2026 10:50 pm IST
