PM Modi Urges Citizens to Join Census 2027 via Online Self-Enumeration

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed to citizens to take part in the ongoing Census 2027 exercise and register their household details online, speaking during the 138th episode of his monthly radio programme, Mann ki Baat.

He said the first phase of the census was nearing completion, with data from more than 320 million families already recorded. The house-listing and housing census phase is scheduled across April to September 2026, to be followed by population enumeration in February 2027.

Census 2027 will be India's first fully digital census. The decennial exercise, originally due in 2021, was postponed because of the covid-19 pandemic and rescheduled, making this the first census since 2011. The delay has come with a significant redesign: self-enumeration has been introduced for the first time, allowing citizens to submit household details online in 16 languages. The government has also set up a central monitoring system and web-based mapping for enumeration blocks.

The prime minister said the first phase was nearly complete in 31 states and Union territories, while population enumeration is currently underway in the snow-bound areas of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He highlighted the self-enumeration facility, through which citizens can submit household information on their mobile phones via the census portal.

Other themes

Modi also spoke about the government's campaign against drug abuse, efforts to promote sporting talent and the role of local products in boosting rural incomes. He said millions of young people have pledged to stay away from drugs under the Nasha Mukt Yuva Abhiyan, a 100-week campaign involving MY Bharat volunteers, the National Service Scheme, schools, colleges, universities and social and spiritual organisations, with thousands of pledge ceremonies and awareness programmes held in recent days.

On sports, he cited former hockey player and coach Rajinder Singh, who works through the Round Glass Hockey Academy to identify young players in villages and give them access to better training facilities.

The address also focused on amla processing in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, where around 100 processing units are operational under the One District One Product initiative. Modi highlighted women-led self-help groups producing amla candy, juice, pickles and other products, saying improved market access and processing facilities have helped raise incomes.

On nutrition, he pointed to initiatives across states, including Chhattisgarh's campaign to promote moringa, Gujarat's millet-based food competition and efforts in Maharashtra and Mizoram to improve nutrition awareness. He also cited the Poshan Tracker, saying around 90 million beneficiaries are registered on the digital platform.

Modi also noted growing international interest in Indian cultural traditions, citing Thailand-based Ganesha devotee Panthoun Thirkhanon and the Ganesha Himal Museum in Chiang Mai, which houses more than 10,000 Ganesha idols.

On counter-terrorism

Ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 2016 surgical strike on 28 September, Modi said the operation demonstrated a "new example" of India's counter-terrorism policy. He said the Indian Army's crossing of the Line of Control to target terrorist hideouts in Pakistan had shown India's response to terrorism, describing it as a decisive answer to the attacks the country had faced over the years.

He said that from the Balakot airstrike to Operation Sindoor, India had repeatedly conveyed that terrorist attacks would draw a response. Recalling the September 2008 serial blasts in Delhi and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks later that year, he said India now follows a "zero-tolerance" policy towards terrorism. Modi also noted that 2026 marks 25 years since the 9/11 attacks in the United States, and recalled paying tribute to the victims during his visit to the US after becoming prime minister in 2014.