Census house-listing: 97% of target met

New Delhi: With just four days left for the ongoing house-listing operation under Census 2027 to conclude, Delhi has covered nearly 2.2 crore people and about 73.4 lakh of the estimated 75.6 lakh census houses, achieving more than 97% of its target, according to official data till 7am Wednesday. Only a little over 2.2 lakh houses are yet to be listed across 12 districts.The month-long exercise, which began on May 16, is scheduled to end on June 14. The house-listing operations in New Delhi district was completed before other districts as govt wanted to test the exercise in the sparsely-populated district before launching the exercise in the rest of the city.A census house is a building or part of a building with a separate entrance that is counted as a distinct unit for census purposes, irrespective of whether it is used as a residence, shop, office, institution, factory or any other establishment.An official said the coverage so far is roughly 2.2 crore people, based on an average occupancy of about three persons per census house. The final population figures will be known after the population census, which is likely to be undertaken in Feb 2027, is completed.The official said that during house-listing, one of the challenges that enumerators faced was that many houses were found locked during the day due to the ongoing summer vacation and they had to make a couple of visits to enumerate such houses.Outer North emerged as the best-performing zone, achieving 99.1% coverage of its estimated 7.2 lakh census houses, followed by North West (98.4%), Central North (98.1%), South West (97.8%) and West (97.7%).In terms of scale, North East is conducting the largest census operation, with an estimated 8.24 lakh census houses, closely followed by South West (8.22 lakh), West (7.9 lakh), East (7.7 lakh) and Outer North (7.2 lakh). Together, these five zones account for nearly 53% of all census houses in Delhi. While coverage has crossed the 95% mark in every district, officials said additional efforts are being focused on districts where the house-listing percentage is lower to ensure complete enumeration before the deadline.The numbers also highlight the rapid pace of urban growth in the capital over the past two decades. Delhi recorded 33.8 lakh census houses in 2001, which rose to over 46 lakh in 2011. The current estimates of 75.6 lakh census houses reflect the city’s expanding residential, commercial and institutional houses and buildings.Similarly, Delhi’s population increased from nearly 1.4 crore in 2001 to 1.67 crore in 2011. According to a Delhi govt report, titled ‘Women & Men in Delhi-2023’, the national capital’s population is expected to cross 2.6 crore by 2036.