State gears up for Census, 2.64 lakh officials to be deployed for house-listing from May 16

Pune: The state will deploy a massive workforce after multi-tier training for house listing from May 16 in the first phase of Census 2027. Officials from the census department said on Wednesday around 2.64 lakh enumerators and supervisors, including a 10% reserve, would be deployed across the state for the exercise, which would continue till June 14. The state government had issued a formal notification on Feb 26 confirming the schedule.An official said the first phase of Census would include 33 questions covering housing conditions, access to amenities and asset ownership. To prepare the large field force, the state has initiated an extensive training cascade. As part of this, 141 master trainers underwent four-day residential training in four batches between March 9 and 17 at the Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration in Pune. "All Census functionaries are being sensitised to maintain neutrality, handle personal questions carefully and ensure confidentiality of data," another official from the census department said.The master trainers will train around 3,850 field trainers at the district-level between April 6 and 11. The field trainers will subsequently train enumerators and supervisors at the tehsil-level. The entire training process is expected to be over by May 8.Authorities said the structured training programme is designed to equip personnel with a clear understanding of Census concepts, questionnaires and digital tools. Officials are being trained to use platforms such as Census Management and Monitoring System (CMMS), House-Listing Block Creator (HLBC) web application and house-listing cellphone app. Pre-test exercises have been conducted in select areas to assess field preparedness and test digital systems.The state has directed district administrations to undertake awareness campaigns amid concerns that some housing societies might resist enumeration. "Stopping, hindering or failing to cooperate with Census activities constitutes a criminal offence under the Census Act, 1948, and can attract penalties, including fines and imprisonment," the official said.Ahead of the door-to-door enumeration, authorities have opened a self-enumeration window from May 1 to 15, allowing residents to submit their details online. "Details filled through self-enumeration would be verified and validated by enumerators during household visits," a senior state official said, adding that residents were being encouraged to complete the process in advance to ease the field verification process.