Final phase of census kicks off in Capital

The 2001 census had showed that 1,38,50,507 people live in Delhi. However,the last 10 years saw an unprecedented growth in migration and,given the dynamic nature of the population,it remains unclear how many people resided in Delhi as of 2011. The second and final phase is primarily aimed at finding the number as well as providing policy makers with statistics that will make it easier for them to put their plans on track.

Given the massive scale of the operation — 30,000 enumerators,5,000 supervisors and an endless paper trail — there will be many challenges.

Varsha Joshi,Director,Census Operations for Delhi,says the biggest challenge her team faces is time.

“We have 19 days left to do everything,so the operation has to work out like a well-oiled machine. As we have already finished the housing survey,we have used the information gained to equally divide duties. Each enumerator has been allotted 125 houses. Time is definitely a challenge,and we have to announce the details on March 1. You can do a re-poll but there’s no such thing as a re-census. So it has to be perfect,” she says in the middle of a manic day,when taking calls from reporters is the closest she has come to taking a break.

Another challenge will be the fact that most enumerators are teachers or school employees and,with the school season in full swing,they can do the work only after school hours. “Each enumerator will be expected to cover five-six houses every day for the next 19 days. Each house will take anywhere between 30-60 minutes,and they will have to put in enough time to get accurate results,” Joshi explains.

“One of our biggest challenges during Phase I — the housing survey — was that people were wary of the enumerators,and could not understand why a census was important. They were worried that the information could be misused by landlords,banks or insurance firms. Since we spent enough time creating awareness and ‘cultivating’ community leaders back then,we expect this phase to be smoother,” she said.

A revision round will also be conducted in the Capital between March 1 and 5 in order to correct the final results.

For information regarding census operations,one can contact Joshi’s office at the toll-free number 1800-345-0111.

An awareness campaign will also be kicked off in the Capital on Thursday morning.