A retired Indian Air Force (IAF) officer flagged a glaring error on India’s officialCensus 2027self-enumeration portal as it showed Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh as China’s ‘Medog’. Soon after the issue was flagged, the error was corrected. The entire matter surfaced when retired IAF officer Group Captain (retired) Mohonto Panging Pao, a resident of Pasighat, attempted to register on the Census official website, se.census.gov.in.

Notably, Pasighat is part of Arunachal Pradesh's East Siang district. #Census2027 During Self-Enumeration attempt on https://se.census.gov.in maps showing Pasighat, East Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh as 'Medog'! Medog is a town in China! CEO of Google @sundarpichai is Indian! Even official Govt portals are virtually ceding our territory! Needs urgent intervention!” Group Captain Pao wrote in an X post.

Soon authorities took note of the IAF officer's social media post. The Office of the Registrar-General and the Census Commissioner of India noticed the issue. A clarification was also issued by the concerned authorities.

"An issue was mentioned during Self-Enumeration on https://se.census.gov.in regarding map location in Pasighat, East Siang District in Arunachal Pradesh today. The issue was raised with the Map services provider, and it has been resolved," authorities posted of the X handle of Census 2027.

While responding to MapmyIndia's post, Group Captain (Retd.) Panging Pao, said, "Thanks a lot. We do not belong to China. Full Stop! Let's support & use #MapmyIndia Bharat Mata ki Jai!"

The first phase of Census 2027, House Listing, started from April 1. It will continue until September 30. The field operations for the House Listing and Housing Census (HLO) started on April 16.

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"The exercise will be carried out over a 30-day period till May 15, during which trained enumerators will undertake house-to-house visits for data collection. As part of the digital approach adopted for Census 2027, so far around 12 lakh households have successfully availed the self-enumeration facility through the official portal," an official of the Ministry of Home Affairs said, as quoted by The Indian Express.

The first phase of the census is House Listing and Housing Census, popularly known as HLO. It will be conducted from April to September this year in a period of 30 days as per the convenience of the State/UT governments. There will also be an option of self-enumeration of 15-day period just before the 30-day period of house-to-house house listing work.

Around 33 questions will reportedly be asked in this phase by the enumerators, covering details about the condition of houses, amenities available to the household, and assets possessed by the household. The Centre notified the questions of Phase I of the census in January this year.

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