Census operation begins next week

NEW DELHI: Come February 9, millions of population enumerators will access every nook and cranny of the country over 20 days to achieve the census authorities' objective of counting each and every individual resident in India.

Be it videographing the elusive Sentinelese tribe in the Andamans for an approximate headcount, taken as the tribesmen come out and collect parcels that drift ashore after being dropped in the sea by census authorities, or fanning out across streets, railway stations and bus terminals on the night of February 28 to count the homeless, the enumerators will leave no stone unturned to ensure that not a single citizen present in the country during the enumeration exercise is missed.

With the slogan, "You count, so we count" and star campaigners like master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and actress Priyanka Chopra, notwithstanding the latter's recent brush with the tax authorities, the office of the Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner has even appointed its first enumeration mascot - a salwaar kameez-clad woman enumerator. The mascot was unveiled by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram here on Wednesday.

The mascot, however, has not been given a catchy name, indicating perhaps the faceless nature of the millions of school teachers who will double up as enumerators to visit nearly 240 million households across the country between February 9 and 28.

A massive multi-lingual media campaign is also being launched to encourage people to get counted.

Briefing newspersons about the new features included in Census 2001, Registrar-General and Census Commissioner C Chandramouli said enumerators will collect information like ownership of mobile phones, computers, access to internet and usage of banking services.

For the first time, trans-sexuals will be able to record their gender as "others". Along with age, the enumerator will also record the date of birth of the individual.

The column relating to marital status will differentiate between "separated" and "divorced." Also, given the objections raised over prostitutes being clubbed with beggars, they will now be classified as "others."