Why in news?
The 2027 Census of India will, for the first time, include geotagging of all buildings during the Houselisting Operations scheduled for 2026. Enumerators will assign latitude–longitude coordinates to each structure using a mobile app.
What is geotagging?
Geotagging involves linking a physical location to digital data by recording its precise geographic coordinates. In the census context, every building will receive a digital “address” on a Geographic Information System (GIS).
How will it be done?
- Enumerators will visit their assigned blocks, use smartphones with location enabled and mark each building’s coordinates and type (residential, non‑residential, mixed, landmark).
- Digital layouts will replace hand‑drawn sketch maps used in earlier censuses, improving accuracy and workload distribution.
- The data will be integrated with other census information on households and population.
Benefits
- Accuracy: Reduces duplication and omission of houses and ensures fair allocation of work among over 3.4 million enumerators.
- Policy planning: Helps target welfare schemes more precisely and supports urban planning and rural development.
- Transparency: Provides verifiable geospatial data for governance and improves the reliability of population statistics.