RGI Directs Census Officials Not to Release Provisional Data Before Authorisation

PTI, July 1, 2026, New Delhi : Registrar General of India (RGI) Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan has directed the Census officials that no "provisional population figures" or "any other data" collected during the exercise should be released to the press or used by any other authority until further orders.

In a communique to all the Directorates of Census Operations across the country, he said all information collected during Census operations is confidential and protected under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948.

"It needs to be mentioned here that the provisional population figures and/or any Census figures, based on the Houselisting or any other data contained in the Houselisting schedules/abstract, should not be released to the Press or used by any authority, official or non-official until further instructions are issued in this regard by the ORGI," it said.

Narayan said all the Census functionaries, right from the Principal Census Officer to the Enumerator and the DCO staff, should be properly sensitised regarding confidentiality of the data collected and processed during the Census.

"Any breach of instructions by any official entrusted and concerned with Census Operations will be viewed seriously and erring officials will be liable for appropriate disciplinary action under the Census Act, 1948 and other appropriate Act and Rules," it said.

Narayan said although the Census is a fully digital exercise where the data will be collected by the enumerators on their mobile devices using special applications developed for the purpose, in cases of operational contingencies such as technical issues, connectivity constraints, or other field-level exigencies, data may be collected in such exceptional cases using paper schedules provided in the Instruction Manual.