Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Government of Goa has notified that the first phase of Census 2027 — Houselisting and Housing Census — will be conducted across the state from April 16 to May 15, 2026. The exercise will collect data on housing conditions, household amenities and assets.
According to the notification issued in the Official Gazette, the census will be conducted through digital means. A provision for self-enumeration has also been made for a 15-day period from April 1 to April 15, 2026, ahead of the houselisting phase.
The second phase, Population Enumeration, will be carried out in February 2027, followed by a revisional round from March 1 to March 5, 2027. During this stage, individual-level information on demographic, socio-cultural, economic, migration and fertility parameters will be collected.
The government stated that census data serves as the primary source of information at the lowest administrative levels, including villages and urban wards, covering housing condition, amenities, demography, literacy, religion, economic activity, migration and fertility. The data is widely used for planning, policy formulation and public administration by central and state governments, and also for delimitation and reservation of constituencies for Parliament, Assembly, Panchayats and other local bodies.
The notification emphasized that the success of the census depends on public cooperation and urged residents to provide accurate and unambiguous information to enumerators during the exercise.
Under provisions of the Census Act, 1948, census officers are authorised to ask questions and residents are legally bound to answer them to the best of their knowledge. Occupants are required to allow access to premises and permit affixing of identification numbers for census purposes. Persons tasked with filling schedules must comply with directions issued by census officials.
The notification also outlines penalties for refusal to perform census duties, providing false information, obstructing officials, denying access, damaging census markings or failing to complete required schedules. Such violations may attract fines and, in certain cases, imprisonment.
It further states that census records are confidential and not open to public inspection, and entries made during the exercise will not be admissible as evidence in civil or criminal proceedings, except in cases related to offences under the Census Act.
The notification has been issued for public information under directives of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, encouraging people in the state to participate, including through self-enumeration.
