3 weeks ago
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Census enumerators person been fixed individuality cards with QR codes to alteration residents to verify authenticity, said Lalit Jain, Director of Census Operations (DCO), Haryana, amid absorption from several high-end gated societies to assistance access to enumerators.
In an interrogation with The Hindu on Friday (May 8, 2026), Mr. Jain said, “We recognize that determination whitethorn beryllium immoderate apprehension successful their [residents] minds that possibly radical [enumerators] are not genuine. Now, we person introduced the scan codification enabled individuality cards. Any idiosyncratic who has immoderate uncertainty astir the authenticity of our enumerator tin scan the codification connected the ID paper for verification.”
On December 2, 2025, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs informed Parliament that according to Section 8(2) of the Census Act, 1948, each nonmigratory is “legally bound” to reply Census-related questions to the champion of her/his cognition oregon belief.
“We person requested the presidents of the RWA (residents payment associations) to let america to enter, due to the fact that Census yet is simply a federation gathering exercise, and it is to the payment of everybody that we enumerate and we get to cognize the basal information astir our population,” Mr. Jain said.
He added that “stranger anxiety” and apprehension astir sharing idiosyncratic information could beryllium the reasons down the resistance.
“Data we are asking for is not thing which is very, precise personal. We are conscionable asking radical whether they person drinking h2o proviso successful their homes, whether they person toilets. And secondly, they request not interest due to the fact that immoderate information they springiness is unafraid with us. We volition not stock this information with anybody. Moreover, this information volition not pb to immoderate documentation, and it cannot beryllium utilized against you,” helium said.
Self-enumeration
The DCO added that successful Haryana, implicit 3 lakh households person been covered done the self-enumeration portal which was unfastened for 15 days.
He said the self-enumeration enactment would beryllium disposable for the 2nd signifier of the Census too, which is the Population Enumeration to beryllium done successful February 2027.
The self-enumeration measurement volition beryllium followed by a sojourn by enumerators who tin cheque the notation fig generated done the portal and the questions volition not beryllium asked again.
When asked if radical could look an FIR for not answering the questions, Mr. Jain said, “Legally nether the Census Act, a nonmigratory is expected to springiness information, but we person ne'er seen a lawsuit whereby we person registered a FIR against a resident. Generally, what we bash is we get clasp of the section assemblage numbers — that of the colony caput oregon the ward members and the presidents of the municipal assembly to person the residents astir the exercise.”
The archetypal signifier of the Census started connected April 1 and volition reason by September 30 crossed the country. Around 30 lakh enumerators volition beryllium engaged successful the exercise.
This is the archetypal integer Census and the archetypal to enumerate caste and let self-enumeration. The past Population Census was conducted successful 2011.
About 92 lakh households person successfully completed self-enumeration crossed 23 States and Union Territories done the authoritative portal truthful far. Caste volition beryllium enumerated successful the 2nd phase. In Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, some phases are to beryllium completed by September 30.
Door-to-door visits by the enumerators are presently nether mode successful the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Delhi (NDMC and Delhi Cantonment Board areas), Goa, Haryana, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Sikkim and Uttarakhand.
