Assam Bars Transfer of Officials Deployed for India’s First Digital Census till March 2027

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Government of Assam has directed all district administrations and the General Administration Department to ensure that officials appointed for Census 2027 duties are not transferred until the completion of census operations, following instructions issued by the Government of India.

In an official communication issued by Assam's Department of Personnel, the state government forwarded a directive from Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, asking all states and Union Territories to impose restrictions on the transfer of census functionaries appointed for the nationwide exercise.

The directive stated that preparations for Census 2027 are now in full swing and that the census will be conducted digitally in two phases, with a provision for self-enumeration.

The Centre has noted that the appointment and training of census officers at state, district, tehsil and enumeration block levels have already commenced in many states and UTs. Since these officers will discharge statutory responsibilities under the Census Act, 1948, and the Census Rules, 1990, they must remain in their assigned positions until March 31, 2027, to ensure smooth conduct of the nationwide exercise.

The Assam government has asked all concerned authorities to take necessary action in compliance with the Centre's directive and ensure administrative continuity for the successful conduct of Census 2027.

According to the schedule for Assam, Phase I of Census 2027 will be conducted across the state from August 17 to September 15, 2026, with self-enumeration to remain open from August 2 to August 16 through the official portal. Population Enumeration under Phase II in Assam will be conducted in February 2027 along with the rest of the country, with the reference date fixed as March 1, 2027.

A total of 59 master trainers have also been designated, with their training scheduled from June 9 to June 12, 2026. In addition, the state government has finalised 1,109 field trainers, whose training is tentatively scheduled from the third week of June 2026.

Official sources said nearly 83,535 enumerators and supervisors, including reserve personnel, will be deployed during the Phase-I Census operations across Assam.

Census 2027 will be India's first digital census and will be conducted in two phases - House-listing and Housing Census (HLO) and Population Enumeration (PE).

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