LUCKNOW, May 9 -- As part of the first phase of Census 2027 in the state capital, urban development and energy minister A.K. Sharma and Lucknow mayor Sushma Kharkwal on Friday publicly completed their families' digital self-enumeration to encourage citizens to participate in the online census process. The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) organised a special awareness programme at Jhandi Park opposite the civic body headquarters at Lalbagh under the "House Listing and Housing Census" phase of Census 2027. During the programme, authorities demonstrated the online process and explained how citizens could register themselves digitally in Hindi and several regional languages. Officials said every family completing the process would receive a unique identification number for verification during the census exercise. Addressing the gathering, AK Sharma described the census as the backbone of development planning rather than merely a data collection exercise. He said the government uses census data to prepare policies related to housing, civic infrastructure, public services and resource allocation. Sharma appealed to citizens to participate actively. Mayor Sushma Kharkwal said the LMC had started preparations to ensure smooth implementation of the campaign across the city. Sheetal Verma, director of Census Operations, Uttar Pradesh, said citizens could complete self-enumeration from their homes using digital platforms. Municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar, senior municipal officials, councillors and representatives of the civic body also attended the programme....