New Delhi: Nearly 12 lakh households have so far conducted self-enumeration across 11 states and union territories for the Houselisting Operation (HLO) phase of Census 2027. More than half of these families have availed the self-enumeration facility in the last 4-5 days.With the conclusion of the 15-day self-enumeration window on Wednesday in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Karnataka, Odisha, NDMC and cantonment areas of Delhi NCR, Mizoram, Sikkim and Lakshadweep, field census operations, involving door-to-door enumeration, will begin in eight states/UTs from Thursday.These field operations will continue for one month i.e. till 15th May. Given that the 12 lakh households enumerated so far constitute only a small percentage of the total population of the eight states, the enumerator’s visit will be important to obtain complete and accurate data on housing conditions and household amenities.A Home Ministry spokesperson on Monday said the HLO phase of the census forms an essential basis for evidence-based planning and formulation of welfare and development programmes.The self-count window is open till April 19 in Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and till April 24 in Uttarakhand. It will begin in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on Monday and in Bihar on Friday.The Self-Enumeration (SE) facility is being offered for the first time in Census 2027, which is also India’s first digital census. The Census 2027 handle, in a post on X, had put the number of self-enumerated households till April 10 at 5.7 lakh, which means around 6.3 lakh had enrolled between April 11 and 15.Residents who have completed the self-enumeration should keep their self-enumeration ID (SE ID) ready to complete the HLO process and share it with the enumerator during the field visit.All data collected under the Census Act, 1948 remains strictly confidential and is used only for statistical purposes and development planning.Census 2027 is being conducted using digital tools for the first time, while retaining the traditional door-to-door enumeration framework to ensure comprehensive and accurate coverage. During field visits, enumerators will use a dedicated mobile application to collect data digitally to ensure high accuracy and fast processing.