NEW DELHI, The Registrar General of India has directed district magistrates and municipal commissioners to identify villages, habitations and communities vulnerable to threats or intimidation that could hamper the conduct of a free population census and implementation of vulnerability maps.
The RGI has taken into account the possibility of excluding some areas from the census due to inaccessibility or due to prevailing social and economic realities.
It has asked officials to conduct a village-level revenue exercise “to identify villages/hamlets/habitats and segments of people vulnerable to any threat, intimidation or interference” in the freedom to conduct the census.
The RGI also directed that special areas such as military installations should not be covered during the ongoing housing census.
An All India Helpline No. 1855 has also been launched to conduct the population census.
“The officers in charge should undertake this exercise by making extensive rounds in their areas and in consultation with local village officials – patwaris, lekpals, talatis and village administrative staff,” said a directive issued by Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Narayan Singh to all states and union territories recently.
Local police officers and civic authorities such as block development officials should also be consulted before finalizing the list, she said.
“They must identify the source of such threat or intimidation and the persons likely to drive such a crime of undue influence. While undertaking this exercise, they must take into account both past incidents and current concerns,” the directive said.
Officials have also been asked to identify a focal point within the vulnerable habitats or communities so that developments can be continuously tracked.
“The in-charge and Chief Census Officer shall compile all this information and finalize vulnerability mapping of the entire district/region respectively,” the statement read.
In census parlance, the main census officers are district judges and municipal commissioners.
The RGI directed the responsible officials and general planning offices to make special arrangements to ensure a free and fair census in vulnerable areas. They were asked to make visits to these sites, meet with communities and explain the purpose and arrangements of the census.
The Census Commissioner also asked the district intelligence units to remain alert on the issue and provide regular feedback to the PCO through the District Police Superintendent.
“Maps of village-level vulnerability points should be made available with district census officials. Officials from the district coordination office should mandatorily visit these sites, interact with villagers and constantly monitor developments,” the directive said.
The RGI also said the PCO and District Superintendent of Police should conduct a joint review and finalize a focused action plan to address potential threats or intimidation.
Officials have been asked to pay special attention to checking whether people from vulnerable habitats and communities are being counted correctly.
“In case they discover that some sections of people have not been enumerated or false information has been recorded or returned, they should immediately inform the responsible officer/PCO,” the directive said.
She added that the responsible official and the Operations Coordination Office must send teams to visit these areas to ensure that there are no overt or hidden obstacles to the census and closely monitor the situation.
After the census, the responsible officer and the PCO will submit a written village report to the DCO stating whether people from at-risk habitats have been completely and correctly enumerated.
She added: “If any complaint is received or information is collected from any source about obstruction or threat to any group of residents, the matter must be investigated by the local administration without delay.”
The census, the eighth since independence, is conducted in two phases – the first phase, known as the House Census and Housing Census, and the second phase, the population census.
Field visits for housing inventory and housing census began on April 16 in several states and union territories. Enumerators will list all buildings, homes and households across the country to create a basis for a population census.
Every state and union territory will be notified of the month-long exercise between April 1 and September 30.
The field visits will be preceded by a 15-day window for the self-census, during which citizens can answer HLO phase questions through the portal and create a special ID to share with census takers during verification.
Initially, the exercise will be conducted entirely digitally, with census takers using a dedicated mobile app to collect data.
During housing listings, census takers will visit each house and building and ask 33 questions regarding basic amenities in the houses, details of the head of the household such as name and gender, ownership status and other information.
The second phase of the census – the population census – will begin next year.
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