Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on Friday (January 23, 2026) told Chief Secretaries not to make any jurisdictional changes in States until March 31, 2027. This order comes ahead of the Population Census 2027. He spoke at a Conference of Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories. Also present were State Census Nodal Officers, senior Ministry of Home Affairs officers, and Directors of Census Operations. Mohan asked States to ensure they appoint and train Census workers on time. He urged them to republish necessary notifications and use digital tools fully, including self-enumeration by citizens. He emphasized strong publicity and communication to build public trust and encourage participation. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI), Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, welcomed participants and called Census 2027 a historic national exercise. He explained the use of digital tools like self-enumeration in this Census. The conference was also attended by Additional Registrar Generals Sunil Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar, Deputy Director General Biswajit Das, and others. Mohan highlighted India's proud Census history and the key role States play for a successful Census 2027. He requested Chief Secretaries to regularly review Census activities in their States. On January 22, RG&CCI announced 33 questions for all residents in the first phase—the Houselisting and Housing (HLO) phase. This phase starts on April 1, 2026, in various phases across States and will last till September 30. Census 2027 will be India's first digital Census, the first to count caste, and the first allowing respondents to self-enumerate through a new portal. The second phase—Population Enumeration (PE)—will count caste details in February 2027. The questions for this phase will be announced later.