Haryana gears up for first-ever fully digital census in 2027

Chandigarh: Haryana chief secretary Anurag Rastogi on Thursday virtually addressed a one-day conference of divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and municipal corporation commissioners to ensure successful and time-bound conduct of census-2027Calling the census a foundation for policies, welfare schemes and infrastructure development for the coming decade, Rastogi said it was also a test of the state's administrative and technical efficiency as well as its coordination capabilities. The chief secretary emphasised that census data is crucial for policy formulation and development planning. The data from the 2011 census helped identify districts with a low child sex ratio in the state, enabling targeted interventions through the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' programme. Dr Sumita Misra, financial commissioner and additional chief secretary, revenue and disaster management department, instructed officers to ensure that there was no scope for error or negligence in the process. She said the first phase, "House Listing and Housing Census", will be conducted from May 1 to 30. Since the formation of the state in 1966, this will be the sixth census for Haryana. Departing from the traditional process, citizens will also be given the option of self-enumeration, for which an online portal will be launched on April 16. Misra said citizens will be able to fill in their details online in advance. After submission of information, they will receive a unique self-enumeration ID via SMS and email. When the enumerator visits, he or she will only verify the pre-filled information, saving time and improving data quality. Lalit Jain, director of census operations, Haryana, said approximately 50,000 house listing blocks will be covered under 203 rural and urban charges in the upcoming census. For this extensive exercise, more than 50,000 enumerators and over 8,000 supervisors will be deployed. A phased training system involving master trainers and field trainers will be adopted. MSID:: 128554857 413 |