Soldiers and troopers for head count in census phase-2

AGARTALA - Army soldiers and para-military troopers will be engaged as enumerators to count themselves in as the second phase of the country-wide census begins Feb 9, officials said here Saturday.

Civilian officials will conduct enumeration in all homes and other places while the army soldiers and para-military troopers will carry out the head count in their camps and barracks across the country simultaneously between Feb 9 and 28, senior census official Dilip Acherjee told reporters.

The 45-day first phase of the census, which included listing of houses and door-to-door headcount for the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC), was conducted separately from April to September 2010.

Acherjee said: A total of 29 questionnaires will be put to each person and all the collected information will remain confidential.

Midnight of March 1, 2011 will be the reference date and time for the collection of information.

According to the official, four types of counting will be done in the second phase of the 20-day long census. These include the census of normal residents, institutional occupants and inmates, such as prisoners in jail, students and people residing in hostels, homes, refugee camps and asylum.

Beggars, prostitutes and eunuchs will also be counted in the census, Acherjee said.

After the enumeration that ends Feb 28, a five-day revision round of survey will be conducted from March 1-5 to record the births and deaths taken place during the 20-day period, he added.

The final census result will be declared in the third week of March.

Besides the thousands of enumerators and supervisors, who visit each home and other places in the country, district magistrates and collectors have been appointed as principal census officers at district level while sub-divisional magistrates and block development officers will act as sub-divisional census officers and charge census officers respectively.

The Indian census has a rich tradition and enjoys the reputation of being one of the best in the world. The first census in India was conducted in 1872 with a diverse schedule and separately in different regions.

Acherjee said: The 2011 census will be the 15th since 1872 and the seventh after Indias independence.