Kashmir Impulse Desk
Srinagar, Oct 06
Population enumeration for Census 2027 has been completed in designated snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir and across the Union Territory of Ladakh, Chief Principal Census Officer Amit Sharma said on Tuesday.
The exercise was conducted from Sept 1 to 30, followed by a five-day revision round that ended on Oct 5 to incorporate corrections and omissions.
The snow-bound operation covered 5,292 enumeration blocks, including 4,597 in J&K and 695 in Ladakh, Sharma told reporters.
He said the exercise covered remote and difficult areas and required special field arrangements and coordination with district administrations.
The census also included Army and Central Armed Police Forces personnel in the designated areas. Their enumeration was conducted through paper schedules because of security considerations.
Sharma said 125 special charges involving defence and CAPF personnel were covered in snow-bound areas of J&K and another 47 in Ladakh.
He said the Army was also providing data through its central database, while digitisation of collected census data was under way.
Sharma stressed that the Census conducted by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Special Intensive Revision conducted by the Election Commission were separate exercises.
The snow-bound census was preceded by self-enumeration from Aug 17 to 31, followed by field enumeration during September.
In Ladakh, all 695 enumeration blocks were completed, including 367 in Leh and 328 in Kargil. Sharma said Ladakh had therefore become the first Union Territory in the country to complete population enumeration for Census 2027.
In J&K, the operation covered 16 districts and 95 charges. Doda recorded 798 completed enumeration blocks, followed by Kishtwar with 602, Ramban with 418, Anantnag with 377 and Baramulla with 359.
Reasi recorded 345 completed blocks and Udhampur 313. Kishtwar, which was declared fully snow-bound, became the first district in the country to complete its population enumeration for Census 2027, Sharma said.
He credited district administrations, census officials, enumerators, supervisors and residents for completing the exercise in difficult terrain.
Preparatory work included training, formation and demarcation of enumeration blocks, distribution of census material and deployment of nodal officers and district coordinators.
Registrar General and Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan visited J&K in August and Ladakh in September to review preparations and fieldwork, while Additional Registrar General Sunil Kumar visited J&K during the preparatory phase.
Observers from the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India also monitored the fieldwork in snow-bound areas.
The census organisation said a publicity campaign using newspapers, publicity vans, banners, pamphlets, seminars, quizzes, radio broadcasts and hoardings helped raise awareness and encourage public participation.
Population enumeration in the remaining, non-snow-bound areas of J&K is scheduled for February 2027. Ladakh will not be part of that exercise because enumeration has already been completed there.
Work on District Census Handbooks is also under way in both Union Territories. Fieldwork training was completed by September 27, with fieldwork scheduled to finish by October 30.
The J&K exercise involves 284 charge officers, 65 town officers, and 2854 village officers.
In Ladakh, 17 charge officers, two town officers, and 56 village officers have been engaged.
About Rs 49.2 crore has been released for IT infrastructure, fuel, contingency expenses, honorariums, and training allowances for the snow-bound operation.
Final population figures for Ladakh and the snow-bound areas of J&K will be incorporated into the nationwide Census results, scheduled for release after completion of the overall exercise in March-April 2027.
