Bhubaneswar, Jan 20: The Odisha government has announced that the first phase of the Census will be conducted from April 16 to May 15, 2026, focusing on house listing and household assets.

A notification to this effect has been issued by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department.

Preparations for the exercise have been underway for the past six months, with pre-tests already completed in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The state-level coordination committee, chaired by the Development Commissioner, finalised the dates during a meeting at Lok Seva Bhawan.

In the first phase, census officers will mark houses and record household items. The second phase, scheduled for February 2027, will involve population enumeration across the state.

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To carry out the massive exercise, over one lakh census officers will be appointed, each responsible for 200 households. One supervisor will oversee six officers. Training for census staff will be conducted over the next three months. Each census officer will receive an incentive of Rs 25,000 for their work.

Officials said the phased approach will ensure accuracy and efficiency, while also reducing the burden on enumerators.