Gandhinagar, May 27 (IANS) Over 23 lakh people across Gujarat, including Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, ministers, senior officials and citizens, have participated in the state’s ongoing self-enumeration drive for Census 2027, officials said on Wednesday.
The self-counting campaign started on May 17 and will continue till May 31.
According to the Directorate of Census Operations in Gujarat, Ahmedabad recorded the highest number of registrations at over 42,000, followed by Surat at 22,000, Vadodara and Anand at 16,000 each, Rajkot at 14,000 and Mehsana at over 11,000.
Census Director Sujal Mayatra said the campaign has received an overwhelming response from citizens across the state and appealed for widespread participation before the deadline.
He said that if maximum citizens across the state fill the self-enumeration form from home using technology and provide accurate information, it will reduce the workload on the census staff and increase the speed of work.
Mayatra said that government employees will also participate in large numbers in the next two days. All employees of health and education departments will fill the self-enumeration forms on May 29, while police department employees will do so on May 30.
He said Census 2027 will include a self-enumeration system for the first time, allowing citizens to submit details through online portals and mobile phones. The forms can be accessed only through a specified QR code.
Citizens can submit their information through the official portal. After completion of the process, respondents will receive a self-enumeration ID, which will have to be shared with the enumeration officer during the official visit.
The data will then be verified before adding it to the central database.
Officials said the use of digital systems and mobile applications available in 16 languages, including Gujarati, will speed up data collection and reduce the burden of field work. Data collection will also be possible in offline mode through Android and iOS applications.
The census will be conducted in two phases. The first phase, House Listing and Housing Census (HLO), will run from June 1 to June 30 in Gujarat.
During this phase, officials will collect information about housing conditions, household details, drinking water sources, toilet facilities and other assets through 33 questions.
–IANS
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