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Odisha's Census Operations Director Nikhil Pavan Kalyan on Tuesday expressed confidence in the timely completion of the first phase of the house-listing census in the state, stating that the enumeration of all households will be completed by September 14.
Speaking to ANI, Nikhil Kalyan said that the house-listing work under Phase 1 is proceeding smoothly across the state, adding that officials have already reached the halfway mark. He further informed that the self-enumeration exercise was completed between August 1 and August 15. The Census Operations Director noted that with significant progress achieved in Odisha, similar activities will also be undertaken in West Bengal following the completion of Phase 1. He added that efforts will then immediately shift toward planning and preparations for Phase 2. "We conducted the self-enumeration exercise from August 1 to August 15, and the current process has been underway since August 16. The house-listing work under Phase 1 is proceeding smoothly; we have reached the halfway mark and are confident that--just as we successfully completed the task in Odisha and other states--we will finish counting all households by September 14 and then begin planning for Phase 2. Since I am overseeing operations in both states, I can note that we completed the Phase 1 work here back in May and have since been engaged in post-Phase 1 activities, such as preparing District Census Handbooks. We have already completed these tasks in Odisha; in West Bengal, too, we will undertake these activities following Phase 1 and then immediately focus on planning and preparations for Phase 2... We are confident that we will complete the Phase 1 work by September 14..." Kalyan told ANI. Earlier, the intent of the government to conduct the Population Census 2027 was notified in the Gazette of India on June 16, 2025. The Union Cabinet approved a financial outlay of Rs 11,718.24 crore for its implementation. The Phase I (House listing and Housing) Census is scheduled between April and September 2026. It will be held in a period of 30 days in each state and UT, as per the convenience of the state and the UT governments. There will also be an option of self-enumeration during 15 days just before the 30-day period of house-to-house HLO work. This phase gathers detailed information on housing conditions, availability of amenities, and assets possessed by households, while also creating the essential frame for the subsequent phase. However, Phase II (Population Enumeration) is scheduled for February 2027 and will focus on capturing detailed demographic, socio-economic, cultural, migration, and fertility-related information of individuals across households. As decided by the CCPA, enumeration of Castes will also be done during the second phase of the Census. For Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of Jammu and Kashmir and states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Phase II will be conducted during September 2026. (ANI)
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