The site’s map interface incorrectly classified his city, located in East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, as a cross-border city in China called “Medug”.
A former Air Force officer found a fatal error on a map on the self-census portal for the 2027 census, pointing out that Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh has been projected as the ‘Medog’ of China. Within hours the problem was corrected.
The problem arose when retired group captain Mohonto Panjing Bao, a resident of Pasighat, tried to register on the official census website. se.census.gov.in. He felt that the site’s map interface had incorrectly described his city, which is located in East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, as a cross-border city in China’s name is “Medog”.
“#Census2027 while trying to self-census on https://se.census.gov.in Maps showing Pasighat, East Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh as ‘Medug’! Medug is a city in China! Google CEO @sundarpichai is Indian! Even official government portals are literally abandoning our territory! Needs urgent intervention!” group captain Bao wrote in a post on X.
The social media post did its job, and the authorities quickly realized the blunder.
Explains the Census Commissioner of India
The issue soon came to the attention of the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. The authorities took action and issued an explanation.
“An issue was noted during the self-census on https://se.census.gov.in regarding the map location in Pasighat, East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh today. The issue was raised with the mapping services provider, and has been resolved,” a post on the Census 2027 X handle said.
Census 2027 details
The first phase of the 2027 Census began on April 16, with the Population and Housing Census Field Operations (HLO). The process is currently underway across eight states and UTs after the end of the 15-day self-enumeration period.
“The exercise will be carried out over 30 days till May 15, during which trained enumerators will make house-to-house visits to collect data. As part of the digital approach adopted for Census 2027, so far, around 12 lakh households have successfully availed the self-counting facility through the official portal,” the Indian Express was quoted as saying. According to what an Interior Ministry official said.
The Housing Ministry said residents who complete the digital process must share their self-count IDs with field enumerators, who will use a dedicated mobile application to collect the data, ensuring high accuracy and speed of processing.
Shivam Pratap Singh is a digital journalist who works as Deputy Chief Content Producer at Hindustan Times. Having previously worked with different platforms covering national, international as well as sports events, he blends different topics to make news articles easier to read for the benefit of the reader. Shivam holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Jamia Millia Islamia University, bringing a unique perspective to everything happening around the world. An avid reader, he can be seen immersed in books and bookstores when he is not working. Shivam treats every topic almost equally but likes to be right about India’s foreign affairs and politics. He has more than half a decade of experience in digital journalism, although his career began in print.Read more
