New Delhi, March 30 : Registrar General and Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan will address a press conference on Monday at noon to outline the roadmap for the country's upcoming census exercise.

During the briefing at the National Media Centre in New Delhi, the Commissioner is expected to present a comprehensive blueprint detailing how the census process will be conducted across India.

Ahead of the exercise, the Registrar General of India has issued a strong warning to officials involved in the census regarding misconduct during the process.

Acts such as negligence or misuse of data, obstruction of census operations, and deliberately asking offensive or inappropriate questions to citizens have been categorised as offences.

Officials have been cautioned that such violations are punishable under the Census Act, 1948, with penalties including fines and imprisonment of up to three years.

In a communication dated March 17 addressed to all states, Narayan outlined the punitive provisions under Section 11 of the Census Act. These penalties range from a fine of Rs 1,000 to imprisonment for up to three years, or both, depending on the severity of the offence.

A significant feature of the upcoming census is the complete digitisation of the process. For the first time, the entire exercise will be conducted online, allowing citizens to submit their details through a self-enumeration system within a specified timeframe.

In a notable development, the 2027 census will recognise live-in couples residing together in the same household as married, provided they consider their relationship to be a "stable union".

Addressing a frequently asked question on the census self-enumeration portal regarding whether live-in couples would be treated as married. s

Sources indicated that "if they (the couple) consider their relationship to be a stable one, they should indeed be treated as a married couple."

This clarification marks the first time such a position has been formally articulated in the context of India's census operations.

The adoption of an online system will enable individuals to self-enumerate by directly filling in their census details, reducing reliance on enumerators and streamlining the data collection process.

The census questionnaire will include 33 questions in the 'houselisting' phase, one of which pertains to the number of married couples residing within a household. This phase aims to create a comprehensive database of households nationwide and is expected to last 45 days.

The houselisting phase is scheduled to be conducted between April 1 and September 30, with specific timelines for each state and Union Territory to be notified separately by the authorities.

/IANS