Team News Riveting
Raipur, February 18
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said the census was not merely a headcount of the population, but the very bedrock of nation-building.
Addressing the State and Divisional-Level Officers’ Training Conference convened for the successful conduct of Census-2027, he urged all Divisional Commissioners, Collectors and administrative officers across the State to discharge this vital national responsibility with the highest degree of seriousness, precision and sensitivity.
Chief Minister Sai noted that the Census of 2027 will be the eighth census conducted after Independence. He underlined that the census tests both the credibility of the administration and the transparency of governance. Incomplete or erroneous data would adversely impact the goals of development schemes. Not a single individual or family should be left out, as any omission could render the development process incomplete.
He informed that Census-2027 will be India’s first fully digital census. Data will be collected through a mobile application and web portal, making the process more transparent, swift and efficient. In Chhattisgarh, the first phase comprising house listing and housing census will be conducted from May 1 to May 30, 2026. The exercise will cover 33 districts, 252 tehsils and 19,978 villages across the State.
Chief Minister Shri Sai further observed that the provision for self-enumeration will enhance public participation. He emphasised that people’s trust forms the foundation of a successful census, and that this exercise will help lay the groundwork for a developed and self-reliant India by 2047.
Addressing the conference, Chief Secretary Shri Vikas Sheel described the census as a crucial administrative process involving systematic and authentic data collection. He directed officials to complete all assigned tasks within the stipulated timelines.
He placed special emphasis on adopting the technique of supportive supervision during the training of enumerators, stating that field-level personnel must receive continuous guidance and assistance to minimise the possibility of errors.
Highlighting the need to trace new building permissions in advance, he said that no structure should be left out during the house listing process. Referring to the experience of 2001 in border districts, he cautioned that special care must be taken to avoid duplication in counting individuals who may have moved to neighbouring states such as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Chief Secretary observed that the success of the census depends upon meticulous planning, coordination and accurate execution, and called upon all officers to carry out this national duty with commitment and seriousness.
On the occasion, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Shri Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, said that the census is among the largest administrative and statistical exercises in the world. It constitutes a cornerstone of India’s democracy and determines the direction of policy-making and development planning. He noted that the first organised census in India began in 1872, and that the forthcoming census will be the 16th in the country and the eighth since Independence.
He further stated that with a tradition spanning 150 years, the Indian Census remains the largest primary source of data at the village, town and ward levels. It compiles detailed and reliable statistics relating to housing conditions, amenities, assets, demographic particulars, religion, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, language, education, economic activity, migration and fertility.
Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department, Shri Manoj Pingua, provided detailed guidelines to Collectors regarding various aspects of Census-2027. The State-level Divisional Commissioners–Collectors Conference was attended by senior officials of different departments of the State Government, all Divisional Commissioners, Collectors, Municipal Corporation Commissioners and other officers.
