PM urges citizens to participate in Census 2027 | Today’s news
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to participate in the ongoing Census 2027 exercise and register their household details online during the 138th episode of his monthly radio show Mann ki Baat on Sunday.
Modi said the first phase of the census was nearing completion, with data from over 320 million families already recorded.
Census 2027, India’s first fully digital census, is being conducted in two phases: the house census and housing census work is scheduled for April to September 2026, followed by the population census in February 2027.
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India’s decennial census, originally planned for 2021, has been postponed due to the covid-19 pandemic. The exercise was eventually rescheduled for Census 2027, the first census since 2011.
The delay was also accompanied by a significant reworking of the exercises. For the first time, the government has introduced self-counting, allowing citizens to submit household details online in 16 languages. The government has also developed a central monitoring system and web mapping for enumeration blocks.
The Prime Minister said that the first phase was almost completed in 31 states and Union Territories. Population enumeration is currently underway in the snow-covered regions of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
He highlighted the self-enumeration device that allows citizens to submit household information through the census portal using a mobile phone.
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For the youth
Modi also highlighted the government’s campaign against drug abuse, efforts to promote sports talent and the role of local products in raising rural incomes.
Modi said millions of youth have pledged to stay away from drugs as part of Nasha Mukt Yuva Abhiyan, a 100-week campaign involving volunteers of MY Bharat, National Service Scheme (NSS), schools, colleges, universities and social and spiritual organisations.
He said thousands of pledge ceremonies and awareness programs have been organized in recent days.
He also highlighted initiatives to identify sports talent in rural areas, citing former hockey player and coach Rajinder Singh, who, through the Round Glass Hockey Academy, is trying to identify young players in villages and give them access to better training facilities.
The speech also focused on amla (Indian gooseberry) processing in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, where he said around 100 processing units are operational under the One District One Product (ODOP) initiative.
He highlighted women-led self-help groups that produce amla candy, juice, pickles and other products, saying better market access and processing facilities have helped boost income.
On nutrition, Modi highlighted 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 Poshan Tracker and said that around 90 million beneficiaries are registered on the digital platform.
Modi also spoke of growing international interest in Indian cultural traditions, citing Thai Ganesha devotee Panthoun Thirkhanon and the Himal Ganesha Museum in Chiang Mai, which houses more than 10,000 Ganesha idols.
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About terrorist attacks
Modi said the 2016 surgical strike demonstrated a “new example” of India’s counter-terrorism policy as the country prepares to mark the operation’s 10th anniversary on September 28. He said the crossing of the Line of Control (LoC) by the Indian Army to target terrorist hideouts in Pakistan demonstrated India’s response to terrorism.
He described the surgical strike as a decisive response to the terror attacks India has faced over the years. Modi said since the Balakot airstrike to Operation Sindoor, India has repeatedly conveyed that terror attacks will bring a response.
He recalled earlier attacks and mentioned the September 2008 Delhi serial blasts and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. He said that India now follows a “zero tolerance” policy towards terrorism.
Modi also noted that 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US and recalled that he had paid tribute to the victims during his visit to the US after becoming prime minister in 2014.