India's Ambitious Digital Census Challenge

India is about to attempt the largest digital census in human history, and it could either

revolutionise how the country understands itself or leave millions invisible. In 2027,

over 1.4 billion people will be counted entirely through mobile apps, not paper forms.

The government promises results in ten days instead of years, with GPS tracking and AI validation

to catch errors. Urban households can self-enumerate online, and the system supports

sixteen regional languages. But here is the problem: only 65 percent of Indians

are online. Remote villages, the elderly, and the poorest risk being undercounted.

Past digital censuses in Africa showed higher errors when literacy was low. India will deploy