Asif Iqbal Naik
Jammu/New Delhi, Jan 17, 2026: Amit Sharma, IAS, Director Census Operations (DCO) and Director Citizen Registration (DCR), Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, for the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, on Friday described the upcoming Census 2027 as a founding pillar of the Viksit Bharat Mission. He was speaking at the 6th Digital Transformation Summit & Awards organised by Governance Now Group in the national capital, New Delhi, where he was invited as a Keynote Speaker and Special Guest to share his expertise as an e-Governance expert.
Speaking on the theme “Building Digital-First Governance,” Amit Sharma elaborated on the unique and novel features of the forthcoming Digital and Paperless Census 2026–27. He highlighted that for the first time in the history of the country, citizens will have the facility of self-enumeration, enabling them to fill in their own data using geo-tagging features. He further informed that the entire census process will be 100 percent paperless, with enumerators and supervisors recording data on their own devices through a dedicated application developed by C-DAC.
He said that census data will be processed swiftly in indigenous data centres of the Office of the Registrar General of India, ensuring early release of reports. Emphasising transparency and accuracy, he noted that the upcoming census would be error-free, technology-driven and based on clean and authentic data, with extensive use of e-Governance tools. He also spoke about the “Census as a Service (CaaS)” model announced by the Government of India for Census 2027, which drew wide appreciation from the audience comprising senior bureaucrats, technology experts, PSU leaders from organisations such as C-DAC and NICSI, IT industry representatives, policymakers and national Digital Governance Awardees.
Amit Sharma stated that beyond being a statistical exercise, Census 2027 would play a crucial role in shaping India’s economic, demographic and political landscape, and would also help in redefining the country’s EXIM policy. He termed it a critical instrument in achieving the goals of the Viksit Bharat Mission of the Government of India.
He also urged participants at the summit to act as active messengers of the first-ever digital census in Bharat, recalling that the census exercise in India predates Independence and is being conducted in the world’s second most populous nation and largest democracy.
On the occasion, Amit Sharma invited Governance Now Group to take the lead in organising the first national-level Census Awareness-cum-Sensitisation Programme in Jammu & Kashmir, involving top experts to educate the public about various aspects of Census 2026–27 and underline the importance of public participation.
During the concluding session of the summit, outstanding e-Governance initiatives from across the country were recognised and awarded. Amit Sharma’s contributions during his tenure as ICT Secretary of Mizoram were specially acknowledged, including initiatives such as e-Office, Bhashini, DigiLocker and the Mizo Fibre Grid Network Project, which marked a significant digital transformation in the state. He also joined the Jammu & Kashmir team in receiving an e-Governance award in the Rural Development sector.
The organisers and the packed audience expressed gratitude to Amit Sharma for his insightful and eloquent address, stating that it provided a comprehensive understanding of the transformative features of Census 2027. They assured full support as active stakeholders in strengthening the upcoming Digital Census being led by the Ministry of Home Affairs through the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, scheduled to culminate in February 2027.
