Kolkata, May 29: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari will preside over a meeting at the state secretariat, Nabanna, on Friday to discuss ways to expedite the census process in the state.
The decision to initiate the census was made during the first meeting of the newly formed cabinet on May 11, led by Suvendu Adhikari. Following this, the state government issued a notification assigning responsibilities to various levels of officials to complete the census work.
At the district level, divisional commissioners, district magistrates, additional district magistrates, sub-divisional magistrates, block development officers (BDOs), and joint BDOs have been given additional responsibilities for this task.
In urban or municipal areas, commissioners, additional commissioners, municipal executive officers, and officials of equivalent rank have been instructed to carry out the census work.
On Friday, Chief Minister Adhikari will hold a crucial meeting to review the progress of the work and discuss methods to accelerate the process.
Although preliminary preparations for conducting the census had begun in several states some time ago, the process was halted until the recent assembly elections, which brought the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government to power.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has accused the previous state government, led by Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress, of failing to provide necessary cooperation to the Ministry of Home Affairs, resulting in delays in starting the census process in the state.
An insider from the state secretariat revealed that the main agenda for the meeting on Friday will include discussions on census preparation, staff recruitment and appointments, training of personnel involved in the process, identifying data collection methods, and ensuring smooth and effective coordination with the central government.
The insider also mentioned that the possibilities of digitally collecting data might be discussed.
The Census Operations Directorate of West Bengal has stated that census officials will gather information door-to-door using a special mobile application. This will include an option for self-enumeration, allowing interested individuals to voluntarily submit their information online through a government portal.
A ‘self-enumeration ID’ will be generated, which can later be used for verification. Enumerators will collect official data and upload it to a central database or repository.
Leave a Comment